NEFE Salons, Think Tanks and Symposiums

On July 16, 2009, on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, NEFE convened a Salon of teacher education students, in-service teachers, education faculty, and other financial education stakeholders to discuss the findings of the completed research project, as well as discuss the implications for practice, policy, and future research.

Our nation’s young adults between the ages of 18-34 live in a world much different from their parents and grandparents.  In mid-November 2008, NEFE engaged an eclectic mix of financial education leaders and young adult experts in a seminal event in the field of financial literacy—a first step—in  understanding how Generations X and  Y make decisions, who they trust, where they get their information, and what engages them to take both notice and action. 

This think tank marked the first step in a long road toward a nationwide collaboration among financial experts, academia, civic leadership, service and product providers, government representatives, mass media, and consumers to create a new awareness about the retirement decumulation challenge and to encourage positive behaviors by those most at risk.

In late 2008, NEFE brought together project principals and team members from our various grants to discuss the projects in progress and share discoveries about new research findings.

One way to come up with a break through idea is to look at an issue from a fresh perspective. That kind of thinking led NEFE to host a groundbreaking cross-disciplinary symposium in August 2005. Financial educators joined leaders in the fields of neuroscience, change theory, behavioral economics, and psychology to explore ways of motivating people to get better at managing their finances and preparing for retirement. Learn what new thoughts were delved into—including thorough measurement and tracking of behavior and program results over time, identification of best practices, and new ways to fund and to deliver financial education.

Why don’t Latino immigrants fully participate in and understand U.S. financial systems? Find out what came out of a NEFE-sponsored think tank on that topic held in late 2005. Learn about the opportunities and barriers that Latino immigrants face as they make their way from a cash-based society into one built on credit and assets. Also, find out what financial institutions and Latino immigrants can do to help bridge the cultural divide.

What practical steps can be taken to help people break negative financial habits? At a NEFE-sponsored think tank in May 2004, a group of financial educators, researchers, service providers, and other experts identified a set of common concepts that were seen as necessary for behavior change to occur. NEFE identified them as “Seven Rs of Behavior Motivation and Change”—Readiness, Resources, Relevance, Respect, Responsibility, Reward, and Replication.

 As individuals, we’re facing greater financial responsibility as our national financial system becomes increasingly complex. The burden is too much for many of us – especially low-income and disadvantaged individuals – to deal with. Personal bankruptcies are rising while our national savings rate is almost nonexistent. In October 2002, NEFE brought together financial literacy experts to share insights and explore solutions to these issues. They examined current financial education programs, compared educational approaches, analyzed research, and considered what could be done to develop a national agenda to improve financial literacy.

Are payday loans a niche service that fills a void for millions of underserved Americans? Or, are they a destructive and addictive form of financial apartheid? For certain financially needy individuals, they represent an easy, convenient way to get out of an immediate financial bind. But at what cost? The annual percentage rate (APR) on payday loans can be above 1,000 percent, rather than more reasonable rates of 10 to 20 percent. Through these exorbitant APRs, payday lenders can trap our society’s “have-nots” in a situation where they can’t escape the cycle of borrowing and rising debt. To increase awareness of this growing phenomenon, NEFE and the Consumer Federation of America co-sponsored a forum in early 2002entitled, The Debt Cycle: Using Payday Loans to Make Ends Meet.

What do the following four things have in common: a divorce or death of a spouse, an unexpected job loss, a financial windfall, and a leap-of-faith decision to remarry? They are significant life-changing events that can throw a major challenge at people, financially and psychologically. At a NEFE think tank in 2001, participants from the fields of psychology and financial planning came together to address the challenges that can result from life-changing events such as these.

By now, Americans know that people today are living longer than members of any previous generation and so are more likely to experience illness that might require long-term care. With medical costs rising substantially and 77 million Baby Boomers about to retire, paying for long-term care is becoming a major issue for consumers and financial service providers. In May 2001, NEFE hosted a two-day think tank to delve into practical strategies and solutions for motivating consumers to plan and prepare financially for their long-term care needs.

The two disciplines of family economics and social work revolve around a similar concern—to improve the welfare of the family. But they tend to take different approaches to promote this. In October 2000, NEFE convened a dozen scholars with diverse perspectives in these two fields to discuss how to improve the financial literacy of low-income populations and how they might work together to do so.

Life planning is an exciting, emerging field that goes beyond the confines of traditional financial planning. This new area considers multiple facets of life, encompassing not just finances, but also employment, recreation, relationships, personal and spiritual growth, and physical and mental health. To discuss the significance of the emerging field of life planning, in November 2000, NEFE brought together a group of financial planning and counseling professionals. They touched on such diverse elements as the need to live purposefully, to be motivated and educated to make wise life choices, and to be self-aware and personally fulfilled.

Everyone faces financial challenges, but women have additional issues to deal with, including earning less money than men on average, living longer, receiving smaller retirement benefits, and being more conservative investors than men. What educational programs and research projects could improve financial literacy for women? That was the focus of a February 2000 conference co-sponsored by NEFE and AARP.

In May 1999, it was already clear to NEFE that retirement would change substantially in the coming years and decades. First, 77 million baby boomers were set to retire in the coming years. In addition, major changes were already taking place, including increasing longevity, earlier retirement, new definitions of work, greater reliance on defined-contribution plans, and growing self-responsibility. Clearly, we must rethink our traditional notions of retirement and retirement planning.