Karen Murrell: All Publications, Events and Press

The Effectiveness of Youth Financial Education

Asset Building — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:23:00 -0500

As a result of the current financial crisis, consumers are more concerned about their personal finances than ever before. Household confidence in job security and future employment prospects, income stability, and the ability to preserve and build assets is plummeting; meanwhile, high fuel and food prices and tightening credit conditions are placing more pressure on households to maximize their financial decisions.

Coaches for a Game of Money | New York Times

Communications — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:58:00 -0500

You can read books,” said Karen Murrell, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit policy research organization in Washington. ...

Financial Education in the Workplace

Asset Building — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:15:00 -0500

This was presented on November 26th at the Citi-FT Financial Education Summit in Beijing.

Developing Sophisticated Financial Consumers

Asset Building — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:27:00 -0400

Presented at the National League of Cities' "Bank on and Beyond: A Roundtable for City Leaders"

Karen Murrell in The Oklahoman on Financial Education

Communications — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 07:30:00 -0400

Explosive growth in the number and complexity of financial products available to Americans has far outstripped programs aimed at teaching consumers how to choose and use those products, experts said Wednesday at a financial education conference in Oklahoma City.

Consumers have dozens of options unavailable to previous generations in terms of retirement plans, loans and credit cards, said Karen Murrell of the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

"What hasn't changed is the amount of education people get to help them make these decisions," Murrell said.

One of the results has been a sharp decline in personal savings, Murrell said.

"People are not only spending every dime they have, they're dipping into savings," she said. "Debt is rising much faster than household income." ...

For the complete article, please follow this link.

Public Policy Ideas to Improve Financial Education and Help Consumers Make Wise Financial Decisions

Asset Building — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:51:00 -0400

Although the number of financial education programs has grown over the last decade, few policies have been enacted to evaluate, support and expand effective financial education and increase financial capability. Although the government is not the only entity that can help improve financial education, there is an important role for the government sector to play that complements the efforts of the private sector, the nonprofit sector, and the efforts of individuals to take personal responsibility to access financial education. All levels of government can develop policies that help prepare youth and adults to make wise financial decisions. This report identifies some policy ideas that were generated by financial education experts—including practitioners, researchers, and financial institution representatives—during the New America Foundation’s Roundtable Meeting on March 21-22, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

The policy ideas included in this report can improve financial education and help consumers increase their financial capability. For the purposes of this report, financial capability can be defined as developing the skills and confidence to be aware of financial opportunities, to know where to go for help, to make informed choices, and to take effective action to improve financial well-being. Financial capability links education with appropriate products and services to make the education relevant.

The entire report is available below in PDF format.

Beyond the Mortgage Meltdown

Communications — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 05:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/20/2007 - 12:00pm

The current -- and predicted future -- turmoil in the mortgage market highlights an important challenge to the American dream of homeownership: how to make certain that those who enter into homeownership are able to sustain that status, protecting family stability and building equity in a critical asset. Thirty years ago, those who owned homes had fixed rate mortgages and substantial equity, and foreclosure was a rare event. However, many Americans were denied the opportunity to… more

New America Foundation Launches Financial Services and Education Project

Jerry Irvine — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:21:00 -0500

(WASHINGTON, DC, 12/14/06)— In response to the growing complexity of financial services, the persistent need for widespread, effective financial education, and the increasing importance of reducing debt and building wealth by millions of low-, moderate- and middle-income Americans, the New America Foundation’s Asset Building Program is establishing the Financial Services and Education Project, with funding from the Ford Foundation.

“To build and retain personal and community assets, Americans must navigate a financial system that is innovative and robust, but complex and constantly changing,” said Ellen Seidman, the recently named director of the new project. “The Financial Services and Education Project will develop and put forth creative bi-partisan approaches to enhance the effectiveness of the entire system in serving all Americans well.”

Seidman is a widely regarded expert in financial services. She served as a special assistant on economic policy to President Clinton; director of the Office of Thrift Supervision; and was a senior advisor on financial services issues for the U.S. Congress, Fannie Mae, and the U.S. Department of Treasury. Seidman, who is based in Washington, DC, will continue to serve as Executive Vice President for National Policy and Partnership Development at ShoreBank Corporation, as well as serve as Chairman of the Board of ShoreBank’s affiliated Center for Financial Services Innovation.

Karen Murrell, a widely regarded expert in financial education, homeownership and asset-building for low-income Americans, will join the project as a Senior Research Fellow. Murrell will explore and advance innovations in the financial services and asset-building fields.

“The U.S. financial system has changed significantly over the last few decades, placing increasing responsibility on individuals to manage their own finances. More effective strategies to enable each individual and family to achieve their financial goals are essential. The Financial Services and Education project is well positioned to identify innovative solutions,” Murrell said following her selection as a fellow.

Murrell, who has held senior positions at Fannie Mae and the Fannie Mae Foundation, will continue as President of Higher Heights Consulting and Training in addition to her fellowship with New America. Her book, You and Your Money: A No Stress Guide to Becoming Financially Fit, co-authored with Lois Vitt, will be published by Prentice Hall in Spring 2007.

The Financial Services and Education Project aims to play a leading role on public policy issues related to:

Improving financial education;
Expanding access to mainstream financial services;
Reforming and rethinking the Community Reinvestment Act, in light of the new landscape of financial services; and
Enabling low- and moderate-income Americans to better manage their debt.

Ray Boshara, Director of New America’s Asset Building Program, remarked, “We believe this project comes at just the right time as policymakers are looking for innovative and promising bi-partisan solutions to expand wealth-building financial services and financial education to more and more hard-working Americans. We’re very fortunate to have Ellen and Karen on board to lead this very exciting project.”

About The New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, post-partisan, public policy institute whose purpose is to bring exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the fore of our nation’s public discourse. Relying on a venture capital approach, the Foundation invests in outstanding individuals and policy solutions that transcend the conventional political spectrum. Headquartered in our nation’s capital, New America also has offices in California and New York.

About New America’s Asset Building Program
The purpose of the Asset Building Program is to significantly broaden the ownership of savings and assets in the U.S. and abroad. The program directs its policy efforts at the bottom half of the income spectrum, who presently save and own very little. The program was instrumental in the creation of the Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus in 2005; recently launched a Global Assets Project with the Center for Social Development; has advised policymakers in the U.S. and around the world on policies to build savings and wealth for low-income Americans, including policies that establish at savings accounts at birth; and created and manages AssetBuilding.org, the nation’s most comprehensive assets clearinghouse.