CashCourse for college students &Retirement Income Decumulation Think Tank

Brent A. Neiser, CFP®ASEC Partners Fall 2008 Meeting

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

CashCourse

What is CashCourse?• A free, online, just-in-time financial education resource• Created, maintained and paid for by the National Endowment for

Financial Education (NEFE®)

Introduction to CashCourse:• A free Web site to provide students financial education information for

every stage of college life• Unbiased, noncommercial content• Branding of the school can be integrated into the Web site through the

school’s logo, color scheme, and resources• Promotional materials are provided and can be customized (although

schools using the materials cover the printing costs)

CashCourse

Content:• 4 Main Categories

– Financial Basics (covers budgeting, banking, credit cards, retirement…)– Paying for College (covers financial aid, federal aid programs, managing

loans…)– College Life (covers housing, roommates, studying abroad, handling peer

pressure…)– World of Work (covers interviews, understanding benefits, taxes…)

Also includes:– Calculators, worksheets, links to more information– Interactive Budgeting Wizard– Marketing materials for school administrators– Upcoming features such as a workshop series

CashCourse

As of October 10, 2008:• 172 schools are enrolled• 113 more schools are registered (awaiting user agreements)Can be used in multiple campus departments• Typical departments using CashCourse: Financial Aid, Student

Affairs, Career Services, and Alumni Associations

For more information, visit www.cashcourse.org or email us at cashcourse@nefe.org.

Retirement Income Decumulation Think Tank

Origins:• 2006 concept exploration: NEFE identified a need for middle and

moderate income Americans to have a better understanding of pre-retirement and retirement-related financial decision-making.

• In Fall 2006, NEFE hosted a roundtable in D.C. of 8 national experts to explore the issue.

• Decumulation was the focus of the roundtable, and the 2007 think tank concept was conceived.

• In Fall 2007, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College delivered an academic literature review covering several “decision areas” to provide background information and insight into the think tank.

Retirement Income DecumulationThink Tank

• On December 10-12, 2007, “Retirement Income Decumulation: Critical Choices & Critical Decisions” think tank was held in Wellesley, MA.

• Attended by approximately 20 participants from various fields representing associations, financial planning professionals, academic institutions, think-tanks, financial services industries, regulatory associations, and the federal government

• Focused on the development of strong messages and dissemination techniques to reach our audience

• Target audience = Americans approaching retirement with pre-retirement household incomes of $30,000 to $100,000

Retirement Income Decumulation Think Tank

Retirement decisions were broken into 8 categories or “decision zones”:

• Work• Social Security• The House• Insurance Products• Defined Benefit Pensions• Defined Contribution Plans• Debt• Fraud

Retirement Income Decumulation Think Tank

“Strategic Messaging Considerations” is a document that NEFE created with help of GBSM, a Denver-based communications firm. It includes:

• A bottom-line summary of At-Risk Middle America’s looming retirement decumulation crisis

• Key themes and messages for government, business, the financial planning profession, and broad civic leadership toward addressing At-Risk Middle America’s retirement crisis

• Universal rules and guidelines to promote adequate retirement preparation and decumulation practices among At-Risk Middle America

Diving Deeper:• NEFE hired an expert to dive deeper into the messages contained in each

decision zone and write about special circumstances within each decision zone

Retirement Income Decumulation Think Tank

Engagement Strategy Moving Forward:• Article in Journal of Financial Planning• White paper• Design and development of consumer Web site• More to come

For more information, contact Brent Neiser at ban@nefe.org or at 303-224-3501.

www.nefe.org