Continue reading »]]> Raising financial literacy competencies among students and community members forms the main goal of an exciting campaign launched at Wake Technical Community College this year. In collaboration with the SunTrust Foundation and the National Financial Educators Council, Wake Tech opened the inaugural semester of its Center for Financial Education in spring 2013 to serve students, faculty, and the whole community.

The Center’s opening semester featured 20 events and reached over twenty-thousand people through live instruction, media, contests and campaign outreach. The campaign reach was extended with media coverage, on campus fliers, web presence, word-of-mouth and the NFEC’s email list that informed over 14,000 people about the SunTrust Foundation Center for Financial Education. The Channel 11 news also helped to raise awareness throughout North Carolina by featuring a several minute segment of the overall initiative.

The campaign kicked off in January-February with the Center’s acclaimed Financial Empowerment Workshop Series. This series took place over four class periods and covered lessons in credit, debt, savings, money management, and investment basics. Courses featured multimedia videos and real-world activities aimed at improving participants’ financial foundation. Graduates of the Workshop Series received Certificates of Accomplishment at the Graduation Celebration held February 27. This celebration also served as the kickoff event for the larger financial literacy campaign.

Students that attended the event had various comments on how the coursework helped them personally. One student commented, “What I liked most was how to budget my money. I got some good advice on how to rebuild my credit.” Another student shared, “I think the class was very good for those of us who need a little financial support. I think everyone should take the class at least once.”

On February 12, the Center featured a Crash Course titled Building Your Credit Rating. This project-based workshop, featuring videos and real-world activities, primed participants to take action toward improving their credit ratings and create plans to avoid or pay off debt. Twice on March 5, the campaign offered a Financial Empowerment Staff Education Workshop on Retirement Planning and
Investing designed especially for educators and staff. This 90-minute presentation helped participants form a solid plan with clear action steps toward achieving financial wellness.

From March 9 – April 20 the campaign hosted the Financial Scavenger Hunt Contest, a fun, reality-based contest that helped people learn money management skills while competing for
prizes. Students participated in activities that will help them build their financial foundation, including: reviewing SunTrust’s student checking account options, getting a free copy of their credit report, calculating compounding interest and meeting with Wake Tech personnel.

March 9 and April 13 marked dates for classes targeting prospective students that were presented during each of the two Wake Tech Open Houses—the College Family Finance event for students who brought parents, and the Financial Empowerment event for those attending alone. Throughout April the Center for Financial Education celebrated Financial Literacy Month with contests, free online financial education, and a booth at the College’s Spring Fling.

The SunTrust Foundation Center for Financial Education’s inaugural semester ended with fun, food, and participant recognition at its Closing Ceremonies event April 26 on the Wake Tech main campus. The National Financial Educators Council recognized Wake Tech and the SunTrust Foundation for their commitment to promote financial wellness. The Financial Education Leadership Award (FELA) is provided to organizations that have made a significant commitment to delivering educational programming, raising awareness and creating a model that ensures long-term sustainability.

Kimberly Knox, lead instructor for the National Financial Educators Council states, “My experience with Wake Tech has allowed me to connect with people from all walks of life, affording me an opportunity to discuss the subject of money of money management to them in a manner in which they can identify with and understand. It is important to be in a position to share your experiences with money with others so that you can better understand your mistakes and grasp ways to improve your skills.”

Establishment of the Center for Financial Education is a demonstration of Wake Tech’s commitment to improving financial outcomes for its students, staff, and faculty. The financial literacy program represents the successful collaboration between the Community College, the SunTrust Foundation, and the National Financial Educator’s Council. This collaborative effort provides holistic financial education to help participants achieve financial freedom and empowerment.

This inaugural semester is Wake Tech’s first step toward sustaining an ongoing campaign to raise awareness about financial literacy on campus and in the surrounding community. Thus the Center seeks to help the NFEC fulfill its mission: to create a world where people are informed to make qualified financial decisions that improve their lives, the lives of their loved ones, and the lives of people they influence around the globe.

Continue reading »]]> In this article, parents and guardians will learn how to teach money management kids at every age level. Kids are to be taught how to manage their own medium of exchange, as often called, even at a very early age in order to do better management in the future. Here are ways you as a parent can do to help your little children to save it.

This information on teaching financial literacy to kids on the proper way to handle money is also a helpful way for their parents and guardians on how to deal with these valuables themselves. Now how can one child at an early age control his own currencies? Here are some age categories and how they can be taught the way to manage their possessions.

Little children must need to be taught first the value of these monetary valuables. At the ages of 5 to 10 years old, your kids would love to collect and even save those pennies. They almost do not really understand or care about the real value of it until they do get older. The best way for families to do is to tackle about it during family gatherings or talks. They may touch the issue about it during these conversations.

However, this does not mean worrying them by telling about the bills you have to pay or the cost of living these days.At this age, the importance of money would be all about how to buy a certain important house device or how to buy food that you eat. However, the explanation changes as they age or get older too.

Once children reach the age of puberty, they have a different view of these valuables. This age category would need to be taught how to save money and why it is important to keep some of it for more important or even emergency purposes.

When they reach the age of 16 and older, they become more conscious of how hard it is to earn it for a living especially during these critical hard times. So it is better to teach them early than soon for it benefits not only them but you as their parents as well.

Bottom line financial education – kids and teens programs – can benefit our youth for a lifetime.

Continue reading »]]> A Raleigh based financial literacy campaign launched in 2013 and in the years to come this initiative will serve the entire state of North Carolina and beyond.

The National Financial Educators Council, Wake Technical Community College and the SunTrust Foundation teamed up to ensure this campaign offers maximum benefits for the students, the citizens of Raleigh and the overall North Carolina community. In its inaugural year over 25 events were hosted to serve students, staff and the general public.

Wake Tech has committed to designing a comprehensive a Raleigh based financial literacy initiative with plans to take the campaign to the broader North Carolina community. The planning and implementation is a collaborative effort between the administration, Foundation Office, GED/ABE Programs, Student Activities Office, Financial Aid Office, Promotions & Marketing and Curriculum Education Services.

The collaborative effort produced excellent first year results. Pre- and post-test showed positive results, and data from the surveys showed the students felt the program was valuable.

Learn more about Financial Education in North Carolina

Continue reading »]]> The National Financial Educators Council, Wake Technical Community College and the SunTrust Foundation have teamed up to bring a comprehensive financial education solution to North Carolina and the Wake Tech campus.

Wake Tech commitment to to offering financial education program extends beyond the students. This campaign is also focused on reaching the staff and surrounding community.

To serve the community – the SunTrust Foundation Center for Financial Education at Wake Technical Community College was founded. The National Financial Educators Council developed the training, promotions and resources used in this campaign. This initiative brings together multiple touchpoints, modern marketing techniques and a practical financial education to North Carolina.

In its inaugural year, the Center for Personal Finance is recognized as the preeminent college financial education campaign in North Carolina and the country.

Learn more about Wake Tech and their Raleigh based financial literacy campaign.

Continue reading »]]> The National Financial Educators Council awards Stan Webb the NFEC Community Financial Literacy Ambassador Award for his efforts in Wichita, Kansas.

The NFEC recognizes leaders in the financial literacy field by honoring them the Community Ambassador Award. Stan T Webb has been chosen to receive this award for his successful financial education initiative he has launched in Wichita, Kansas.

The City of Wichita, Kansas also recognized Mr Webbs contribution. Mayor Carl Brewer presented the proclamation to NFEC Community Ambassador, Stan T. Webb for his efforts in bringing better financial literacy awareness and quality programs to the city and surrounding areas.

The proclamation gave background on the history of financial literacy month, mentioned some of the benefits associated with financially capable citizens and laid out a vision for its community. The proclamation specifically mentions, “by working together through education programs for all ages and income levels, we can eliminate or greatly reduce poverty and prepare our future generations for better financial decisions.”

Mr. Webb’s journey began over 3 years ago with one goal in mind – to improve the financial literacy of citizens in the Wichita, Kansas area. He noticed there was a lack of collaboration between the many agencies, companies and nonprofit organizations involved in promoting financial literacy. This realization, according to Mr. Webb, encouraged him to connect with these groups to promote financial literacy on a coordinated manner. “They were doing amazing programs individually, I wanted to see all these great minds come together and see the impact they have on the community,” states Mr. Webb.

Stan Webb is also a featured member of the NFEC’s Personal Finance Speakers Association. To book Mr Webb or to learn more contact us.

Continue reading »]]> The NFEC’s Personal Financial Speakers Association is honored to have Yamila Constantino join the speakers bureau. Yamila engages audiences around the globe and delivers presentations in English and in Spanish.

Yamila Constantino has two decades of experience in the financial realm, and was twice included on Hispanic Magazine’s One Hundred Top Latinas in the U.S. She is an award-winning journalist and financial education pioneer for Latinos, She was Executive Producer for Bloomberg Spanish-language broadcasts, Head of Production for their five European channels, and Executive Producer for Bloomberg Networks, which syndicated 200 daily reports to 700 affiliates in the Americas. In 1998, she spearheaded the creation of Negocios Bloomberg, the first nationally syndicated radio report to provide personal finance education to the U.S. Spanish-language audience, winning the NY Press Club Award for Best Business Writing.

Read here complete bio here

Money and More (English)

Dinero y Mas (Spanish)

Continue reading »]]> Parents should have a strong supportive role in their children’s financial education. As instructors, how can we encourage parents to become involved? Here are 5 quick tips and a guide that will help you.

1) Homework. Assign personal finance homework that requires parental input. The NFEC’s financial literacy curriculum for kids, teens and young adults has homework assignments that involve the parents.

Sample homework assignment. Have parents review the electric bill with their children. Have them create an attainable plan to reduce the bill and encourage kids with a reward (family based reward like bowling) if accomplished. This fun activity can bring families together. Warning! This activity often has kids telling their parents to ‘shut off the lights.”

2) Scare them! One way to motivate parents is to gently remind them that 80% of college graduates now move back home. Does that parent really want a son or daughter living there at age 35?

3) Events. Host events that bring parents and students together – it ‘s a powerful method that helps open up the lines of communication among families.

4) Encourage. Many parents are not comfortable talking to their kids about money. Encourage parents by letting them know any financial conversation is better than avoiding the issue.

5) Family Financial Goals. Working toward family financial goals brings families closer together.

Click here to receive your free family financial goal guide.

Continue reading »]]> Maximize the impact of your financial education program by employing a backwards design planning method and gaining an understanding of your participants before instruction begins.

Backward Design
Backward design is an educational method that has instructors utilizes or develop financial literacy curriculum with the end goal in mind. Ask yourself – What is it that you want the students to know when they graduate the course? Then design a program that is in alignment with those goals.

In order set effective goals, it is critical that you understand your audience and their current capabilities, motivation and mindset. Follow the pre-event measurement tips below to learn how you can understand your audience.

Pre-event measures
Before you ever begin to teach money management lessons to your audience, the NFEC suggests that you perform three measures: 1) survey about participant needs and interests; 2) pre-test to measure current knowledge level; and 3) consultation with attendees, either individually or in small group segments.

Survey. When planning a financial literacy initiative, obtaining information about participant interests directly from the source can be invaluable. The survey is aimed at learning what participants are looking for and the challenges they’re currently experiencing. Here are some sample questions that can form the basis of a participant survey:

 What financial topics would you be most interested to learn?

 How would you like the information to be delivered?

 What days of the week and times of day do you prefer?

 How far would you be willing to travel to attend a live event?

 In your opinion, what would be the ideal length of the event, course, or program?

 With what knowledge or skills would you like to leave the training?

 Why do you want to learn this information?

 How will the program specifically benefit you?

Pre-test. The NFEC provides a detailed pre-test which gives you a solid measurement tool to demonstrate the results of your event. Pre-testing is essential to gauge the effectiveness of the coursework. The pre-test serves as your baseline measure across three areas: 1) participant motivation to learn, 2) knowledge of personal finance subject matter, and 3) ability to identify the first steps toward improving one’s financial situation.

The same test is administered after your financial literacy event to tell you how well the program worked. Comparing pre-test to post-test results also helps the program obtain future funding from foundation sponsors.

Consultation. The consultation piece can be extremely valuable to inform and design an effective program for optimal results. Involving the actual participants in the planning process ensures maximum buy-in and gives them a sense of ownership. Taking this opportunity to let people know they’re helping create classes for themselves and for future audiences will increase the program’s value and build their self-esteem.

Consulting with the audience not only guides program design, but also gives you personal information about the participants. The more you know in advance about your audience demographics and motivations, the better you can prepare and tailor the materials to meet their specific needs. You can adjust the curriculum and your delivery methods to gain the best bottom-line results.

Continue reading »]]> The National Financial Educators Council launches the first national speaker’s bureau dedicated to financial literacy advocates and educators – the Personal Finance Speakers Association.

With the current trend of economic uncertainty, long-term fiscal cliff problems, over 100 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities and increasing tax rates – also comes an increased need for financial educators and advocates. The financial problems faced by the US (and world) are fueling the financial literacy industries growth. The NFEC is proactively addressing this need for qualified financial education presenters by formalizing a speaker’s association.

The Personal Finance Speakers Association is focused on three main objectives:

1) Providing organizations that seek qualified financial educators and/or advocates a convenient way to choose a speaker that best meets their event goals.

The NFEC’s Personal Finance Speakers Association offers organizations that are seeking educators, keynote presenters and speakers a one-stop solution. Our Association members offer diverse backgrounds and expertise that also meet a variety of budgetary requirements. From celebrity presenters to affordable presenters that recently graduated the Certified Financial Education Instructor coursework – the NFEC team of speakers will meet most event and budget needs.

2) Promote speaking professionals and personal finance experts to increase their visibility book them for speaking engagements.

For seasoned professionals, the NFEC provides booking, promotional services and high profile awareness campaigns. The booking services allow speakers to focus on their main business as the NFEC handles the sales process, client relations and contract. For this service the NFEC receives a set percentage of the speaking fee. The NFEC also provides promotional opportunities that allow them to get their name out, these include: awards, article promotions, viral video campaigns, press releases and other marketing services. The promotional services are provided complimentary.

3) Give novice presenters tools and support that help them build their resume, improve their positioning, gain experience and deliver impactful presentations.

For those with a passion for sharing the message of financial literacy but lack the experience, the NFEC offers comprehensive solutions. From the Certified Financial Education Instructor training to helping speaker hopefuls build their brand – the NFEC supports the development of new educators. The NFEC also books new speakers for events. Initially the events they are hired for are free speaking events with the goal to help them command a speaking fee as they build their skill sets and resume.

Review the Personal Finance Speakers Association brochure.

Apply to be accepted to the Personal Finance Speakers Association.

Hire a financial literacy speaker.

Continue reading »]]> Watch NFL superstar and all around good guy, Brandon Lloyd, as he teams up with the NFEC to promote financial literacy. The Yahoo Sport program, ‘Outside the Game’, did a 4 minute feature video on Brandon’s visit to Lowell High School where he shared financial literacy lessons with the students. This not only impacted the students; it also the million+ people exposed to this message. Click Here to View the Video Now.

The financial literacy movement is at a tipping point and the NFEC is committed to raising mainstream awareness. Financial education is a cure for many of the the monetary problems people face today. Let’s work together with media outlets to inform our citizens that education is the first step to achieving a state of financial wellness.

New -2013 Promotion:
The NFEC has unofficially launched their campaign that is designed to have youth under 21 years old to complete financial education coursework before they commit to student loans. We advocate that our youth have the basic knowledge to understand what they’re signing – the risks and potential impact of student loans on their future. Click here to sign a petition that protects our college-bound youth and learn about our 3 step solution.

Awareness Case Studies #1:
Promotion: The NFEC’s Money XLive Celebrity Campaign. NFL All-pro Brandon Lloyd visits Lowell High School to share personal finance lessons with students.

Results: Featured on front page of Yahoo Sports and the New England Patriots Twitter feed. Received exposure to over 1 Million unique visitors.

*Tip: Get in the habit of clicking social media sharing options on personal finance topics/websites. (*hint – Start now by sharing this webpage)

Awareness Case Studies #2:
Promotion: The Talk Financial Literacy PSA.
Results: TIME picked up the story online and the PSA received front page coverage in the Money section.

Awareness Case Studies #3:
Promotion: Money XLive Celebrity Financial Literacy Tour
Results: Three events that served over 3,000 families and garnered over a hundred thousand dollars in sponsored media and PR coverage.