Financial Literacy

The Your Money, Your Goals toolkit brings together information, tools, and links to other resources that those who work directly with low-income or economically vulnerable people can use to help the people they serve become financially empowered. The toolkit is divided into two sections: Section 1: A four-part Introduction that helps instructors prepare to use the toolkit. Section 2: Modules on the following topics:

• Module 1: Setting goals and planning for large purchases
• Module 2: Saving for emergencies, bills, and goals
• Module 3: Tracking and managing income and benefits
• Module 4: Paying bills and other expenses
• Module 5: Getting through the month
• Module 6: Dealing with debt
• Module 7: Understanding credit reports and scores
• Modue 8: Money services, cards, accounts, and loans: Finding what works for you
• Module 9: Protecting your money

Section 2 is a toolbox of flexible resources that can be used in a wide range of situations. Each module has a set of tools and resources that can be used depending on the situation.

A webinar hosted by the National Disability Institute on programs that encourage individuals with disabilities to develop money saving habits. Chris Rodriguez, Senior Public Policy Advisor with the National Disability Institute, provides overviews of:

• The Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act
• Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
• Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)

The Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, is a saving option for some people with disabilities and their families that protects their eligibility for public benefits. Up to $14,000 a year from multiple sources can be contributed to an ABLE account for qualified disability related expenses. Estimates are that over 10 million people are participating in a program. The ABLE National Resource Center is a collaborative of organizations that share the goal of accelerating the design and availability of ABLE accounts for the benefit of individuals with disabilities and their families. Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are special bank accounts that help low income individuals and families save for things like education, purchasing a first home or starting a business. Workers use earnings from their work to set up an approved bank account for an IDA. Contributions may be matched with funds from State TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) programs or from special funds called "demonstration project" money. Over the last decade, more than 85,000 IDAs have been opened in programs administered by more than 1,100 sites across the country. The impact of this initiative has resulted in more than 9,400 new homeowners, 7,200 educational purchases and 6,400 small business start-ups and expansion purchases. Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) allows a person with a disability to set aside otherwise countable income and/or resources for a specific period of time in order to achieve a work goal. A PASS account can be used for supplies to start a business, school expenses, equipment and tools, transportation, uniforms and other items or services needed to reach an employment goal. Under PASS, persons with disabilities can set aside money for purchases, installment payments, or down payments for things like a vehicle, wheelchair, or a computer if needed to achieve their work goal. America Saves, a national campaign that uses the principles of social marketing and behavioral economics to motive and support low to moderate income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth, is reviewed. Motivational and information resources information are available.

This resource provides a clear process for evaluating financial education curricula. There are suggestions and examples for setting goals and thinking about the characteristics and prior knowledge of students. Readers are advised to give consideration to intended audience of the curriculum, topics covered, and outcomes or competencies that students will achieve through the curriculum. There is also a section that explains each category of the Financial Education Curriculum Evaluation Worksheet which can be used to compare various financial literacy curricula.

Smart About Money is an online, comprehensive site regarding financial literacy.  While it is not strictly from an adult education framework, it is designed to address many different scenarios, for as many students as possible. The site is divided into three sections: Courses, Tools, and Topics. The Courses and Topics sections cover most of the basic content areas associated with personal finance and financial literacy. Both present information in one-page chunks that use short sentences and common vocabulary. Some pages have graphics that help to convey the content. The self-selected, self-paced courses help users make empowered decisions to improve their financial literacy. These in-depth guided learning experiences take approximately 45 minutes to complete and include tools and resources (e.g., worksheets, calculators and quizzes). Smart About Money allows users to explore collections of resources (e.g., informational articles, calculators, graphics, videos, and tools) organized by topics such as: crisis and fraud, education and career, family and finances, holidays and money, housing and transportation, insurance and taxes, retirement and aging, saving and investing, and spending and borrowing. Users can also easily find materials available in Spanish in the Topics section. The Tools section has worksheets, questionnaires, and frequently asked questions that would be helpful tools for a teacher developing learning activities around this content. Tools includes a new resource, Common Money Questions, which provides guidance on common scenarios, including what to do in times of transition and crisis. All of the resources are available without registration; however, registration is free and allows a user to save personal budgets and other worksheets.  

After creating a free login account, teachers can create and save course evaluations. Users select what kind of evaluation to conduct and the type of impact indicators to include (e.g., Attitudinal, Knowledge). Instructors can create their own questions or select from over 800 questions from a question bank. The assessments can be printed out or instructors can send students a link to take it online. Completed assessments are automatically scored and teachers can view the results online or download them as an Excel spreadsheet. Teachers can create as many evaluations as they like and each can be saved and accessed later.