About Vince Shorb

Vince Shorb is one of the country’s leading advocates for promoting financial literacy and a thought leader in teaching and scaling financial education programing. Shorb has led the NFEC in the development of 2,500 literacy programs and development of over 80 financial literacy assets. He has been featured in publications on USA Today, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, CNN Money, MarketWatch, Fox Business, Huffington Post, NASDAQ and Business Insider.

After spending fifteen years in financial services working one-on-one with more than 20,000 people, he founded the National Financial Educators Council – an organization dedicated to combating the financial illiteracy epidemic.

Personal Note

From grade school, I had a passion for learning about money and sharing my knowledge with others. Before turning 20, I was an active investor with rental properties, investments in the stock market and a profitable business. Because of my early investments – I was regularly turned to for financial guidance and discovered my passion for helping people improve their financial situation.

By 25 my early success had turned. I struggled to make ends meet while putting myself through college and was constantly worried about affording life’s basic needs. I felt nobody should have to go through the many years of struggle I did, so I pursued jobs in the financial services industry as a way I could tap into my passion and build a career.

After 15 years in the financial services industry (mortgage banker, real estate, stock trader) and holding a variety of industry licenses (Securities License, California Real Estate license & multiple-state Mortgage Licenses) I felt unfulfilled and recognized I often just put bandages on people underlying problems.

My time in financial services further fueled my passion for helping people with their finances. During those years speaking with over 20,000 people—one-on-one—about their personal financial situations and reviewed the personal financial statements of more than 10,000 clients, I gained an understanding of the challenges people face today. This motivated my jump from financial services to financial education.

In 2006 I left the financial services industry and turned my full attention to championing financial literacy and dedication to empowering people with the skills and behaviors needed to work toward greater financial wellness.

With feedback from thousands of organizations and a team of over 750 experts, Shorb led the redevelopment of all NFEC education assets, developed new educational resources and standards that combine research-based education principles with financial education – the Financial Education Instruction Methodologies Report. The goal achieved was to provide financial education champions access to the highest-quality financial education resources available. The NFEC now boast one the largest collections of financial education resources.

The redevelopment of materials was done to align with the NFEC mission to help financial education champions access to resources that help them build scalable financial literacy and coaching programs. The NFEC is continuing to advance learning initiatives by systematically growing educational teams, resources and conducting research to guide best practices.

Sam X Renick

Vince Shorb presenting Sam X Renick the NFEC’s Financial Education Instructor of the Year Award.

Now leading the NFEC, Shorb directed organization in expanding team of qualified educators and local financial education champions by developing tools that could support their efforts to deliver financial education programming. The NFEC’s concentrated on reducing the cost of delivery and empowering community champions to easily share their growing expertise.

During this period Shorb led the development of curriculum development team of over 300 financial industry professionals, seasoned educators, behavioral psychologists and personal finance experts to build live training coursework, learner financial education standards (Financial Literacy Framework & Standard) and the eVolve online learning platform. The coursework was recognized by the Federal Reserve Boston for our multi-method approach to financial education programming.

Vince Shorb with a team of Certified Financial Education Instructors (CFEI’s) at UNLV program launch.

The momentum form the larger scale events had the organization busier than was manageable so the business model adapted its focus to creating programs that can scale program expansion. During this period, the NFEC increased influential footprint from helping tens of thousands of people to over a half million by creating a fleet of impactful driven educators. During this time, the NFEC deployed large scale financial education campaigns for Penn State University Behrend, Wake Technical College, SunTrust Foundation, Oregon State University.

A focus was also placed on developing our team of financial educators. The Certified Financial Education Instructor Educator training & certification program was developed share what we found successful when teaching personal finance and scale programming. To ensure educational quality a team of forty industry experts who developed of the Framework for Teaching Personal Finances – the first and only set of standards to guide financial education instructors.

Stig O. Nybo presents as Vince Shorb & Deb Ruben

Vince Shorb, Deb Ruben and Stig Nybo launching Transamerica’s Financial Educators Academy.

Shorb co-founded the National Youth Financial Educators Council (name changed in 2009 to National Financial Educators Council as we expanded to support adults) with the goal of teaching high school and college-age youth about personal finance. The organization offered speaking services, financial coaching and conducted informative events.

During this time, the organization produced Money XLive events that brought over 50 celebrities out to fully produced financial education events serving over 1,000 each show and toured colleges with the Real Money Experience interactive events working with over 100 sponsors including Wells Fargo and US Bank to Mesa County and State Farm. Extended educational programs to also address parents who received financial guidance and coaching.

Vince Shorb with Wilmer Valderrama

Vince Shorb and Wilmer Valderrama at the first Money XLive event.

Recent Media

Shorb is a regular contributor and commentator to top media outlets and industry publications. Here are a few of the latest media features:

Advocacy Keynote Presentation for Transamerica Summit

Vince Shorb CBS News Los Angeles Interview
Vince Shorb Fox 40 News Sacramento Interview
Vince Shorb KCRA News Sacramento Interview
Vince Shorb Fox News Sacramento Interview

Vince Shorb, CEO of the National Financial Educators Council, is a leading advocate for promoting financial literacy and financial education programming consultant. His inspiration to help others improve their financial capabilities came through personal experience.

He has been directly involved in the development of over 2,500 financial literacy programs and is highly sought-after financial education expert. His experience in developing financial literacy campaigns prepared him to assume the lead consultant role on a project sponsored by the World Bank that was rolled out to over half a million people.

Before co-founding the NFEC, Shorb talked with more than 20,000 people—one-on-one—about their personal financial situations and reviewed the personal financial statements of more than 10,000 clients. This real-world experience in the financial literacy field contributes to his understanding of the challenges people face today. His passion for helping people improve their financial capabilities, combined with his personal background with money, twenty years of investment experience, and world travel puts him in a unique position to relate to people all around the globe.

Vince Shorb

Vince Shorb with students at an NFEC event at Chapman University.

Vince leads the NFEC’s Curriculum Advisory Board responsible for developing the only standards for financial educators, the national framework for learners, and publishing over twenty financial literacy curriculum titles representing over 400 hours of in-class presentations in total. He developed the first national speaker’s association for financial educators and a certification program that supports the effective dissemination of financial literacy information.

Shorb has been highly acclaimed as a leading financial education authority and advocate. He has been featured in CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, School District Magazine, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, CNN Money, Huffington Post, USA Today, US News, MarketWatch, Moneyish, and Business Insider. He was the creator of “The Talk Financial Literacy PSA” public service announcement which was featured in TIME.

Shorb is fully aware of the challenges and opportunities people face today. His presentations raise awareness for financial literacy and give instructors practical knowledge of how to teach money management. His presentations to those who want to learn practical money management lessons offer guidance and everyday financial know-how—encouraging people to continue learning so they can achieve financial independence.

Vince Shorb – Leader and Advocate of the Financial Literacy Movement

Vince Shorb Vince Shorb, CEO of the National Financial Educators Council, is a leading advocate for promoting financial literacy. His inspiration to help others improve their financial capabilities came through personal experience. Conquering his own financial challenges has helped Vince empathize with the more than ten thousand people whose financial profiles he has personally reviewed. Vince understands first-hand the money struggles people across the country face, and that inspires his mission to empower them with practical financial education.

Vince leads the NFEC’s Curriculum Advisory Board responsible for developing the only standards for financial educators, the national framework for learners, and publishing 24 financial literacy curriculum titles representing over 400 hours of in-class presentations in total. He developed the first national speakers association for financial educators and a certification program that supports the effective dissemination of financial literacy information.

Vince led the creation of the National Financial Capability Strategy which presents many of the overall strategies various agencies have identified to guide nationwide financial literacy promotion. His expertise in developing financial education campaigns prepared him to assume the lead consultant role on a project being rolled out to over half a million people currently living in poverty.

He was the creative mind behind ‘The Talk’ financial literacy PSA (featured in TIME) and the Family Savings Challenge – both designed to encourage parents to communicate with their children about financial matters. His inspiration to mainstream the message of financial literacy has led him into partnership with more than fifty celebrities and professional athletes to promote financial literacy events across the country.

Vince’s passion for helping people improve their financial capabilities, combined with his personal background with money, twenty years of investment experience, and world traveler status puts him in a unique position to empower people around the globe with financial knowledge.

Read the Mint.com “Expert Interview: Vince Shorb on Financial Literacy” and the NewRetirement article Improving Your Financial Literacy.

Background

Before joining the NFEC, Shorb talked with more than 20,000 people—one-on-one—about their personal financial situations and reviewed the personal financial statements of more than 10,000 clients. This real-world experience in the financial literacy field contributes to his understanding of the challenges people face today. His passion for helping people improve their financial capabilities, combined with his personal background with money, twenty years of investment experience, and world travel puts him in a unique position to relate to people all around the globe.

In 2006, Shorb left the real estate finance world to purse his life calling: helping people improve their financial capabilities, achieve a state of financial wellness, and avoid the financial problems so many have faced. His first project was to create a virtual learning center and book for teenagers. He began his public speaking career teaching youth within the Orange County Juvenile Hall system. Shorb notes that working with incarcerated youth was challenging yet rewarding, and provided an excellent venue to refine his teaching style.

In 2007, the NFEC was launched under the name National Youth Financial Educators’ Council. Shorb was instrumental in the original planning and development of the council’s long-term objectives. At this time, Shorb and the NFEC team saw a void that needed to be filled: there were no resource providers of comprehensive financial literacy programs and little was being done to raise awareness about the movement.

As the council grew, Shorb founded Money XLive—one of the nation’s largest full-production financial literacy events—to teach entrepreneurship and financial responsibility to youth in an MTV award-show format. He has been recognized for his ability to bring financial literacy into the mainstream and increase awareness by leveraging celebrity and sports star partnerships.

Shorb’s role quickly expanded into leading the development teams for custom curriculum projects. He led work to expand the teenager product line and begin developing personal finance material for adults and younger children. During this time, “Youth” was dropped from the NFEC name and the company became known as the National Financial Educators’ Council. After five years in development, Shorb’s vision to create turnkey financial literacy packages, high-profile awareness campaigns, and tested programs that streamline the time, expense, and personnel needed to implement a financial education initiative came to life.

Shorb has been instrumental in building partnerships with Penn State, the Behrend College, StandUp for Kids, After School All-Stars, the Matt Leinart Foundation, Salvation Army DFW, the National Veterans Foundation, and other leading nonprofit organizations. Before taking his current position as CEO, he was an original founder and served as lead instructor for the NFEC. In that capacity he benefited more than 50 nonprofit organizations, including Big Brother/Big Sister, PALs, Phoenix House, and the National Parenting Institute. He served as the lead consultant on an international project with BearingPoint and the State Bank of Pakistan. His recommendations for educator training, curriculum, and outreach formed the foundation for the current initiative, which is planned to reach half a million people.

Shorb has been highly acclaimed as a leading financial education authority and advocate. Recently he was recognized by the Orange County Register as the “leading youth financial literacy expert.” His programs were featured in The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, CNN Money, School District Magazine, New York Post, CNBC, Forbes.com, and The New York Times. He was the creator of “The Talk Financial Literacy PSA” public service announcement which was featured in TIME.

Shorb is fully aware of the challenges and opportunities people face today. His presentations raise awareness for financial literacy and give instructors practical knowledge of how to teach money management. His presentations to those who want to learn practical money management lessons offer guidance and everyday financial know-how—encouraging people to continue learning so they can achieve financial independence.

See Vince’s event photos here.

Vince Shorb’s Educator Advocacy Position

Vince Shorb