2020 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS

U.S. FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION COMMISSION

0

. 

Annual Report to 

Congress

U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission Report

FY 2020
2020 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 

U.S. FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION COMMISSION

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Members of the Financial Literacy and 

Education Commission 

Department of the Treasury (Treasury), Chair 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Vice Chair 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Department of Education (ED) 

Department of Defense (DoD) 

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 

Department of the Interior (DOI) 

Department of Labor (DOL) 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) 

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 

General Services Administration (GSA) 

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) 

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 

Small Business Administration (SBA) 

Social Security Administration (SSA) 

White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC)
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Table of Contents

Introduction 2

FLEC COVID-19 Response 2

National Strategy 2020 6

Assessing Federal Financial Education Activities 8

Best Practices for Higher Education 9

Activities for the Next Year 9

Information Concerning the Implementation 

of the Duties of the Commission 10

Appendix: Summary of Public Meetings/Hearings 

and Data on Mymoney.gov and Phone Number 17
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Introduction

This report serves as the Financial Literacy and Education Commission’s (FLEC) Strategy for 

Assuring Financial Empowerment (SAFE) report for FY 2020. Given the events of 2020, the 

report primarily focuses on the FLEC’s response to the COVID-19 national emergency. It 

provides a summary of FLEC members’ financial education activities to meet consumer needs in 

response to the national emergency as well as ongoing financial education activities. The report 

also summarizes the National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2020. The National Strategy was

released by the FLEC in September 2020. This report describes the mechanisms that the FLEC 

can use to implement the National Strategy. This report also describes the Best Practices for 

Financial Education at Institutions of Higher Education released by the FLEC in 2019 in 

response to Section 603 of the 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer 

Protection Act (P.L. 115-174). 

FLEC COVID-19 Response 

COVID-19’s impact on the economic well-being of many Americans reinforces the need to 

support greater financial education and a coordinated national approach to providing consumers 

with resources to make informed financial decisions. In the face of dramatic changes in 

employment, business operations, and housing security, Americans turned to trusted resources to 

provide information, assistance, and guidance to navigate economic challenges. FLEC agencies

responded by providing valuable information and tools on a range of topics, including 

information on accessing Economic Impact Payments (EIP), understanding mortgage 

forbearance and student loan relief, weathering volatile markets for retirement investments, and 

avoiding frauds and scams that unfortunately often follow unexpected events. FLEC members 

leveraged their relationships with the private sector and state, local, and tribal governments, 

among others, to deliver vital information and resources directly to the communities that need 

them most. The FLEC held two virtual public meetings in May and October (the combined 

attendance exceeded 700) that focused on agency responses and opportunities to promote greater 

financial security and resilience following the pandemic.

FLEC agencies, led by the Department of the Treasury, worked to quickly and effectively 

implement the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed 

into law on March 27, 2020. Treasury’s efforts included issuing over $270 billion of EIPs to 

over 160 million families. Treasury coordinated closely with a number of FLEC agencies to help 

inform Americans about how to receive their payments quickly and safely.

In addition to financial assistance, FLEC agencies provided information to Americans on a range 

of critical financial topics. For example, Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) website on EIP and 

other issues received more than 1.56 billion views. Treasury’s general website on CARES Act 

programs reached more than 9.3 million individuals, while its webpage on resources for consumers 

reached over 1.4 million viewers. Additionally, www.usa.gov/coronavirus page with consolidated 
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information on COVID-19 relief from across the government provided information to more than 

11.6 million visitors. Additional detail on information and assistance distributed by FLEC 

agencies is below. Many of these were targeted to financially vulnerable populations and were 

made available in multiple languages, as noted.

COVID-19 response activities, as reported by FLEC member agencies, include the following.

Economic Impact Payments, Money Management, Debt Management, Avoiding Scams and 

Other Topics

• Treasury Internal Revenue Service: Coronavirus webpages received over 1.56 billion page views, 

including: 

• www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment: 584,180,333 page views.

• www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments: 286,348,671 page views.

• www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here: 151,510,994 page views.

• www.irs.gov/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments: 143,839,430 page views.

• www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center: 136,759,480 page views

• www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment-frequently-asked-questions: 122,388,680 page views.

• www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-issues-warning-about-coronavirus-related-scams-watch-out-forschemes-tied-to-economic-impact-payments: 1,697,498 page views.

• Spanish language views: 

• www.irs.gov/es/coronavirus/get-my-payment: 4,345,173 page views.

• www.irs.gov/es/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments: 4,147,191 page views.

• www.irs.gov/es/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments: 3,407,716 page views.

• www.irs.gov/es/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here: 2,826,870 page views.

• www.irs.gov/es/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center: 2,482,032 page views.

• CFPB COVID-19 Resources: Over 5 million users accessed educational web content 

at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/coronavirus/ and related pages. A landing page organizes 

frequently-used resources and updates to previously released content. Topics covered include 

mortgages, credit reporting, debt collection, student loans, frauds and scams, and more. Two 

microsites and 34 blogs on Consumerfinance.gov including a guide to COVID-19 economic stimulus 

relief; over 5 million page views to COVID-19 content. The guide to mortgage relief options and 

protections saw 1,058,438 page views; 43 videos with 1,300,575 views on YouTube, Facebook and 

Twitter; and 2,815 social media messages with over 10.4 million impressions. 134 blog translations 

into Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean. 

• SSA COVID-19 online resources provide critical Social Security services and economic impact 

payment information for beneficiaries: 15,706,269 page views.
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• FDIC COVID-19 online resources received over 850,000 visits. This includes the Get Banked webpage 

to help unbanked individuals open a bank account to more quickly and safely receive EIP.

• FTC COVID-19 Consumer Blogs: 4,414,642 views, www.FTC.gov/Coronavirus: 273,723 views, videos

on scams: 32,532 views, infographics: 13,383 downloads, COVID-19 Financial Impact Page: 6,895 

views. These resources are in English and Spanish. Business Blogs: 191,007 views.

• GSA USA.gov webpage with consolidated information on COVID-19 relief from across the government: 

11,613,158 visits, 7,982 phone calls to the English resources and 1,821,340 visits, 728 calls in Spanish.

• HHS/Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs: Share with Youth: Economic Impact Payments 

for COVID-19: webpage and pdf: 5,643 views through 6/30/20. These resources are targeted to young 

people, including foster youth and youth aging out of foster care. 

• NCUA Your Insured Funds & How Your Accounts Are Federally Insured 133,475 print copies 

distributed: NCUA.gov/Coronavirus: 45,399 page views, NCUA Financial Literacy Social Media Posts 

Facebook and LinkedIn: 283,496 reached. 

• OCC HelpWithMyBank.gov: 183,325 visits, Frequently Asked Questions Regarding COVID-19 on 

OCC.gov: 40,504 visits. 

• FRB Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking provides information about the economic 

well-being of U.S. households, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Housing 

• Joint Mortgage and Housing Assistance Website CFPB, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), 

HUD, VA, and USDA joint website with information on CARES Act mortgage relief, protections for 

renters, resources for additional help, and how to avoid COVID-19 related scams, hosted by CFPB: more 

than 763,598 users. Translated into Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, 

Vietnamese, and Korean. CFPB CARES Act Mortgage forbearance video has been viewed over 163,000 

times on YouTube. 

• HUD Coronavirus How to Prepare and Protect Yourself webpage: 828,098 views; Resources for Renters

webpage on state assistance programs and other resources: 110,325 views; Resources for Homeowners

webpage on forbearance options for government-backed loans: 73,237 views; What You Need to Know: 

Mortgage Forbearance online consumer video, includes information on options provided through the 

CARES Act: 3,474 views; CARES Act Homeownership Relief online consumer video: 3,073 views.

• HUD webpage for housing counseling agencies: 10,967 views.

Federal Student Loans

• ED information for student loan borrowers about COVID-19 emergency relief measures and repayment 

flexibilities, including: 5 Things to Know About Current Repayment Flexibilities and Your Federal 

Student Loans, 6 Things Students Need to Know During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Emergency, and 6 

Things to Know About Public Service Loan Forgiveness During the COVID-19 Emergency. ED 

implemented a communications plan and contacted more than 40 million borrowers about these 

flexibilities, made changes to servicer systems and operations and saw an 88% increase in visitors to ED 

Student Aid website.

• ED information about avoiding student loan scams.
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Retirement Savings, Social Security and Investing

• DOL Rapid Response sessions (webcasts) for Dislocated Workers on workplace-based retirement and 

health benefits: 956 sessions reached 23,510 dislocated workers, in English and Spanish.

• DOL COVID-19 virtual town hall for state rapid response coordinators, workforce boards, and American 

Job Centers: 1,468 attendees, including entities serving dislocated workers. DOL Frequently Asked 

Questions on health and retirement benefit issues to help participants and employers understand their 

rights and responsibilities. DOL, HHS and Treasury issued Frequently Asked Questions on the Families 

First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act addressing requirements for group health plans and 

group and individual health insurance. Additional guidance and relief were provided to employers on 

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 fiduciary responsibilities and notice and 

reporting requirements.

• DOL, HHS, and Treasury issued FAQs on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES 

Act regarding health insurance coverage of COVID-19 related medical costs, including immunizations. 

• SSA blog on Get All Your Federal Benefit Payments in One Account Using Direct Payment provided 

information to benefit recipients about Economic Impact Payments: 15,884 page views. 

• CFTC new and updated resources: Customer Advisory: Be on Alert for Frauds Seeking to Profit from 

Market Volatility Related to COVID-19, Customer Advisory: Beware of Fee Scams Targeting Workers 

Sidelined by COVID-19, Customer Advisory: Learn About Risks Before Investing in Commodity ETPs 

or Funds, Customer Advisory: Beware of Gold and Silver Schemes Designed to Drain Your Retirement 

Savings, Article: 6 Steps to Take after Discovering Fraud. Don’t be Re-Victimized by Recovery Frauds, 

and Isolated? Don’t Make Snap Investment Decisions.

• SEC Investor Alerts on investment frauds involving COVID-19 claims and other scams: Investment 

Scam Complaints on the Rise; Frauds Targeting Main Street Investors; Look Out for CoronavirusRelated Investment Scams; and COVID-19 Related Early Withdrawals from Retirement Accounts—Be 

Careful of Fraudsters and other Bad Actors Targeting Your Retirement Savings.

Military 

• DoD COVID-19 support information and resources on its financial readiness website.

• DoD financial counseling transitioned nearly 300 contracted Personal Financial Counselors to provide 

virtual support to servicemembers and their families.

• DoD educated and informed servicemembers and families on the temporary Social Security Payroll Tax 

Deferral initiated in August 2020 through direct messaging on leave and earning statements, the Defense 

Finance and Accounting Service webpage, https://www.dfas.mil/taxes/social-security-deferral/, and 

through various DoD channels.
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National Strategy 2020

In 2020, the FLEC developed and released a new National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2020. 

This new National Strategy clearly identifies the role for the federal government in financial 

education. Through policy development, research coordination, and focused program and 

resource development, the federal government will support, inform, and improve the broader 

financial education field in its work to equip Americans with the skills, knowledge, and tools to 

make decisions that enhance their financial well-being. 

The National Strategy lays out the following priorities for federal financial education activity. 

• Basic financial capability. Addresses basic money management, financial skills, and 

actions, including strategies for budgeting and savings, managing payment of bills and debts, 

understanding the appropriate use of credit and how that affects credit scores, credit reports, 

and future financing, and avoiding fraud and scams. Improving financial inclusion, 

especially among traditionally underserved consumers and communities, such as women and 

minorities, is also included, as is financial preparedness and recovery via emergency savings 

and other steps that support financial resilience and overall financial well-being. The FLEC 

may also pursue innovative strategies and opportunities to support youth financial capability, 

which can be built through experiential learning opportunities, such as using youth-friendly 

financial products and services. 

• Saving for retirement and investor education. Focuses on helping Americans plan, save, 

and invest for retirement and for long-term needs and avoid frauds and scams that can 

imperil their savings and investments. This area also includes helping Americans face 

challenges in preparing for retirement. For example, this work may include helping women, 

who face a greater risk of poverty in old age, understand Social Security benefits, workplace 

retirement benefits, and savings and investing options. 

• Housing counseling. For most Americans, housing-related financial decisions are among 

the most consequential and complex financial choices they will make. The FLEC will 

support consumers to help them make sound decisions on home buying, managing housing 

expenses, avoiding foreclosure, understanding their rights and obligations as renters, and 

other housing-related decisions through greater accessibility and use of quality housing 

counseling. The FLEC may consider how to better leverage the private sector in expanding 

the availability of housing counseling for homebuyers, homeowners, and renters. 

• Postsecondary education. In recent decades, more Americans have sought postsecondary 

education as a pathway to higher income and greater financial stability. The FLEC will focus 

on helping postsecondary students and their families avoid the pitfalls associated with 

financing higher education. In particular, the FLEC will help them plan for and understand 

the costs and benefits of higher education, increasing transparency about the costs, and 

improving their understanding of options for paying for postsecondary education, including 

student loans. The FLEC will also promote implementation of the recommendations in its 

2019 report Best Practices for Financial Literacy and Education at Institutions of Higher 

Education.
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• Military. The FLEC recognizes the unique financial situation of military servicemembers, 

veterans, and their families. Thus, substantial federal resources are dedicated to military 

financial education, given the critical stakes placed on financial readiness for the nation’s 

defense, the value of the financial security of military families and survivors, and of 

servicemembers returning to civilian life as veterans. In this way, the FLEC will support 

national security so that financial challenges do not distract servicemembers and the 

Department of Defense (DoD) from focusing on their mission readiness.

Steps and structure: The National Strategy lays out a structure for the FLEC that will enable it 

to better coordinate activities to avoid fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, measure 

performance and outcomes, and identify financial education resources consistent with 

Americans’ needs. The National Strategy describes how the FLEC will implement activities 

appropriate for the federal government and consistent with the FLEC’s primary role, including

coordinating outreach and communications and developing a research and learning agenda. 

Throughout these tasks, the FLEC expects to promote partnerships among federal, state, tribal, 

and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and private enterprises.

Best practices: The National Strategy highlights eight evidence-based best practices to improve 

consumers’ knowledge and skills.1 The best practices can be used to serve diverse populations 

on many different topics, across an array of settings. They are: 

• Know the Individuals and Families to be Served. Financial education, information, and 

delivery methods must be tailored to individual circumstances and needs. 

• Provide Actionable, Relevant, and Timely Information. Financial information that is 

delivered in an actionable, relevant, and timely manner results in a greater likelihood of 

retention and positive action. 

• Improve Key Financial Skills. Financial literacy and education can be more effective when it 

helps develop skills, rather than merely transmit knowledge of particular facts about financial 

products and services. 

• Build on Motivation. Effective financial literacy and education programs capitalize on 

people’s motivations. 

• Make It Easy to Make Good Decisions and Follow Through. The environment or context can 

make it easier for people to carry out the steps required for a better outcome. As an example, 

changing options presented and making it easier to obtain helpful information and advice can 

help people bridge the gap between intention and action. 

• Raise Standards for Financial Educators. Financial education providers should demonstrate 

mastery of financial content and effective delivery skills and methods. 

1 The first five best practices are consistent with the principles identified by CFPB in its study Effective financial 

education: Five principles and how to use them, June 2017, available at: 

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/201706_cfpb_five-principles-financial-well-being.pdf
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• Provide Ongoing Support. Financial education should provide ongoing support, such as oneon-one financial counseling. 

• Evaluate for Impact. Financial education providers should evaluate their programs for 

impact and develop a culture of continuous improvement by establishing methodologies, 

procedures, reporting, and metrics for measuring program effectiveness. 

The National Strategy identifies the importance of building young people’s executive functions, 

financial habits, and financial knowledge and decision-making skills, consistent with earlier 

research on the building blocks of youth financial capability.2 

Future Steps. Several actions would greatly improve the financial education field. These are 

actions that the FLEC, working with other stakeholders, should consider implementing in the 

years ahead.

• Raise standards for financial educators. Clearer guidelines or voluntary standards for 

financial educators could improve quality and make financial education a more rigorous 

evidence-based endeavor. 

• Promote availability and use of one-on-one financial education. Many in the financial 

education field recognize the value of one-on-one financial education and are seeking to 

expand its availability by leveraging existing channels and identifying lower-cost means to 

increase its availability and efficacy, especially at critical decision points and for populations 

for whom the need is greatest.

• Measure outcomes. The diversity of program goals, providers, and participants poses a 

challenge to consistently measuring impact. However, for the financial education field to 

improve, it must improve rigor in assessment and respond to findings about what works and 

what does not. The FLEC may collaborate with the private sector, financial education 

funders, and other stakeholders to establish methodologies, procedures, reporting and metrics 

for measuring program effectiveness. In developing consistent measures, financial 

education, providers and policy makers should consider how to use measures that may 

demonstrate an individual’s ability to balance multiple financial decisions, such as the 

CFPB’s financial well-being scale.

Assessing Federal Financial Education Activities

The National Strategy draws on the Treasury’s 2019 review of federal financial education 

activities, Federal Financial Literacy Reform: Coordinating and Improving Financial Literacy 

Efforts. This review considered funding, outcomes and evaluations of federal programs, a broad 

array of financial education research, and consultations with experts and stakeholders across the 

financial education ecosystem. 

2As noted in the National Strategy, see CFPB, Building blocks to help youth achieve financial capability: A new 

model and recommendations, September 2016, available at: 

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/092016_cfpb_BuildingBlocksReport_ModelAndRecommendations_

web.pdf
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According to Treasury’s analysis, the federal government spent an estimated $273 million in FY 

2017 on financial literacy and education programs and activities across more than 20 federal 

agencies. The report cited a 2012 Government Accountability Office report indicating many 

activities had similar goals, few federal agencies appeared to monitor the effectiveness of their 

programs, and only a handful of these programs had been formally assessed or evaluated for 

impact. Additionally, many non-federal organizations also provide financial education services 

and resources, including nonprofit organizations, consumer advocacy organizations, financial 

services companies, employers, educational institutions, and state and local governments. In 2013, 

CFPB estimated that the public and private sector spends approximately $670 million on financial 

education, with non-federal government entities accounting for almost two-thirds of that amount.3

The recommendations for the priorities and structure for the FLEC, as well as best practices for the 

delivery of financial education, have been incorporated in the National Strategy 2020.

Best Practices for Higher Education

The 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 115-174) 

required the FLEC to establish best practices for institutions of higher education to teach 

financial literacy skills and provide information to assist students when making decisions related 

to student borrowing. These were released in the report Best Practices for Financial Literacy 

and Education at Institutions of Higher Education. By improving consistency and transparency 

related to the cost of financing education and promoting greater financial capability, institutions 

of higher education can empower students and their families to make the best financial decision 

possible. Best practices for evidence-based, effective financial education covered in the report 

include:

• Providing clear, timely and customized information to inform student borrowing;

• Effectively engaging students in financial literacy and education;

• Targeting different student populations by use of national, institutional and individual data;

• Communicating importance of graduation and major on repayment of student loans; and

• Preparing students to meet financial obligations upon graduation.

Activities for the Next Year 

The FLEC expects that 2021 activities will be focused on the continued response to the COVID19 national emergency and actions toward a robust recovery consistent with statutes and 

Administration priorities. The FLEC stands ready to work in a coordinated manner to address 

new and ongoing needs of the American people. 

3 The study additionally found that for every dollar put towards financial education, about $25 is spent on

marketing consumer financial products and services. See CFPB, Navigating the Market: a comparison of spending 

on financial education and financial marketing, November 2013, available at:

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201311_cfpb_navigating-the-market-final.pdf
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Information Concerning the Implementation of the Duties of the 

Commission 

This section summarizes data and information reported by FLEC member agencies on the 

availability, utilization, and impact of federal financial literacy and education materials and 

assessment of resources and activities targeted to communities that have been underserved by 

mainstream financial systems. Activities specifically responsive to the COVID-19 emergency 

are listed on pages 3 through 5, above.4

Basic Financial Capability – Ongoing Activities

• CFPB educational website and print resources: more than 12.1 million uses in FY 20.

• CFPB Financial Education Exchange (CFPB FinEx) online and in-person information 

exchange for financial educators: reached 21,583 practitioners as of the end of FY 20.

• CFPB Your Money, Your Goals (YMYG) toolkit and related print materials for local service 

providers to help financially vulnerable people develop financial knowledge and skills:

442,124 print copies of the toolkit were ordered by organizations located in every state, the 

District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The digital version was highlighted in training 

programs for providers who were adapting to serve clients remotely: 4,796 copies of the 

complete digital toolkit were downloaded, and 384,523 print action booklets were ordered on

topics of money management, debt, credit, and savings. Since inception, over 34,117 staff 

and volunteers of social service organizations, faith-based organizations, and other types of 

organizations have received training on YMYG.

• CFPB libraries program provides free publications, trainings, and opportunities to connect 

with local financial education providers. By the end of FY 20, 3,182 library locations were 

signed up.

• CFPBs K-12 and Money as You Grow online and print materials online and print materials for 

teachers and parent educators: 50,768 teachers were reached with activities for classroom use.

• FDIC Money Smart instructor-led and self-paced tools geared to serving people with lowand moderate incomes, unbanked people, people with disabilities, and small businesses. 

Over 175 organizations joined the Money Smart Alliance during 2020, bringing total 

members to 1,600. Over 3,500 prospective trainers learned more about using Money Smart 

via training sessions/webinars. Money Smart is available in Braille/Large Print, Chinese, 

Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. 

• FEMA Emergency Financial First Aid Kit: 68,050 downloads; Your Disaster Checklist: 26,944 

downloads; Be Prepared for a Financial Emergency Fact Sheet: 3,665 downloads. Updated and 

translated into to Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Spanish.

• GSA USA.gov: website visits on financial capability: 2,158,950 and 9,706 phone calls in 

English; 319,133 visits in Spanish.

• NCUA MyCreditUnion.gov and Consumer Assistance Center: 1,183,335 page views 

English, 18,199 in Spanish; NCUA Financial Literacy videos: 67,259 views.

4The Department of Agriculture did not report as of the completion of this report.
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• SBA Business Smart Toolkit modules for workshop presentations, available to download. 

• Treasury Direct Express® Debit Card Mobile Application launched, designed to increase 

security, self-service, and avoid costs for Direct Express cardholders through features like 

checking card balance, reviewing transactions, ATM locator and download monthly 

statements. App has been downloaded nearly 5,000 times and has received high customer 

ratings. Direct Express Payperks provides online education modules on card use and related 

financial capability topics, including managing in COVID-19. Since inception: 1.43 million 

users used 15.25 million modules. Direct Express serves federal benefit recipients, including 

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries, the majority of whom 

are unbanked.

• SBA Empowerment Workshops for Native entrepreneurs and business owners online 

learning or webinars may be downloaded.

• SSA A Better Life Experience (ABLE) resources on accounts for people with disabilities: 

ABLE Accounts: Building Upon the Promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act blog at 

SSA.gov: 18,048 views; blog on Celebrating the Fifth Anniversary of the Achieving a Better 

Life Experience Act: 10,469 views.

• OCC 6 issues of Financial Literacy Update, a bimonthly e-newsletter that reports financial 

literacy events, initiatives, and resources of the OCC and others; Financial Literacy Resource 

Directory on OCC.gov: 4,393 page views. 

• DOI Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (now the Bureau of Trust Funds 

Administration) Trust Beneficiary Call Center answered 168,187 calls from Individual Indian 

Monies beneficiaries about their accounts and field offices had 208,108 contacts with 

beneficiaries.

Basic Financial Capability – Events, Campaigns, Social Media 

• CFPB and HHS Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs Youth Financial Education 

Research Symposium online symposium virtual event for researchers and key stakeholders: 

over 100 participants.

• FEMA Financial Resilience: Tools for Your Community: National Preparedness Month 2020 

webinar: 228 attendees - 92% of attendees strongly agreed or agreed that the webinar was 

useful and applicable to their preparedness efforts.

• GSA social media outreach and emails to its mailing list on financial topics: nearly 700,000 

in English and more than 70,000 in Spanish were opened.

• NCUA webinars/virtual meetings included resources for underserved and low- to moderateincome consumers/communities and COVID-19 related topics: 6,400 participants total. Your 

Money is Safe at a Federally Insured Financial Institution (NCUA and FDIC), Pathways to 

Consumer Financial Well-Being: The Importance of Financial Inclusion and Minority 

Depository Institutions (NCUA and CFPB), Consumer Financial Protection for 

Servicemembers (NCUA and CFPB), Consumer Financial Protection Issues Impacting Older 

Adults (NCUA, SEC, and CFPB). Back to School: Financial Education and Consumer 

Financial Protection Information Resources for Educators and Parents (NCUA, FDIC, and 

CFPB), and Financial Inclusion: Pathways to Serving the Underserved (NCUA and CFPB).
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• OCC High School Scholars Internship Program Interagency Financial Literacy Workshop for 

120 high school students.

• SSA and FEMA supported webinars and social media events for America Saves Week 2020. 

SSA: 4,781 social media mentions, 7.8 million Twitter impressions, 68,162 Facebook 

impressions. FEMA webinar: Emergencies and Disasters: 97 attendees - 50% + of attendees 

were strongly satisfied with the content and would use it in their preparedness efforts.

Housing Counseling – Ongoing Activities

• GSA USA.gov website visits on housing topics: 1,441,320 visits and 4,907 calls in English, 

97,895 visits and 1,409 calls in Spanish.

• HUD Housing Counseling Program provided grants to approximately 1,700 housing 

counseling agencies across the nation. HUD awarded approximately $50 million for FY 20 to 

provide financial education on issues related to housing including homeownership, 

budgeting, managing credit, and understanding mortgage products. In FY 20 served 

1,015,911 clients with the following services: 39% group education, 27% pre-purchase 

housing counseling, 13% mortgage delinquency, 9% rental, 7% reverse mortgage, 4% postpurchase counseling. Outcomes by households served include:

o 360,155 developed a sustainable household budget through the provision of financial 

management and/or budget services 

o 308,327 received fair housing information 

o 152,370 improved their financial capacity (e.g., increased discretionary income, 

decreased debt load, increased savings, increased credit score)

o 35,555 received pre-purchase/homebuying counseling and purchased housing

o 17,743 households that received rental counseling and avoided eviction after

o 23,796 households received rental counseling and improved their living conditions

Housing Counseling Agencies are strongly encouraged to provide services in the 

language of the client and brochures are available in 10 different languages. 57% of 

clients are under area median income, 38% Black; 36% White; 3% Asian; 19% Hispanic.

• HUD Avoiding Foreclosure webpage for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers: 

145,739 views; Disaster Relief Options webpage about loan modification options for victims 

of natural disasters: 24,329 views; HUD Buying a Home webpage: 1,341,810 views; Fair 

Lending webpage provides consumer information on how to address predatory and other fair 

lending complaints: 12,626 views; Tips For Avoiding Foreclosure webpage: 14,849 views. 

These serve first-time and low-to moderate-income homebuyers.

• HUD brochures available in multiple languages: Renter's Guide: The Bottom Line on 

evaluating rental affordability, how credit affects renting, and other rental housing concerns: 

454 downloads; Renters: Guide: Renting 101 helps renters understand leases, agreements, 

and other kinds of rental housing concerns: 1,020 downloads; Homeowner's Guide: Dealing 

with Default encourages individuals to use a housing counselor when facing default: 320 

downloads; Homeowners Guide: Facing Foreclosure encourages borrowers to reach out to a 

housing counselor when facing foreclosure: 552 downloads; Keys to Successful 

Homeownership explains how housing counselors can help existing homeowners maintain 
2020 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 

U.S. FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION COMMISSION

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their homes, understand insurance policies, maintain household systems, and prepare for 

unexpected repairs: 427 downloads; On The Money provides general information regarding 

financial areas to consider when buying a home: 506 downloads; Mortgage 101 provides 

general information on the homeownership process including obtaining a mortgage: 799 

downloads; Housing Counseling and You highlights the benefits of housing counseling: 1,586 

downloads; Credit 101 provides general information regarding the importance of managing 

credit: 2,548 downloads; Are You Ready for Homeownership? online consumer video: 7,705 

views; Is Housing Counseling Right for You? online consumer video: 12,640 views.

• HUD Resident Opportunity Self Sufficiency (ROSS) provides grant funds for training, 

counseling, and other supportive services, including financial education, which expand 

employment opportunities for the purpose of economic self-sufficiency for Public and Indian 

Housing residents.

• HUD Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program provides grants to Public Housing Authorities 

for training, counseling, and other supportive services, including financial education, which

expand employment opportunities for the purpose of economic self-sufficiency of families 

receiving housing assistance.

Housing Counseling – Events, Campaigns, Social Media 

• HUD hosted FLEC forum at the September 2020 Housing Counseling Intermediary Virtual 

Education and Networking Conference. About 200 representatives attended and learned 

about the FLEC and ways to partner with FLEC agencies. For example, counseling agencies 

learned about how the Community Reinvestment Act can incentivize partnerships between 

banks and housing counseling agencies.

Postsecondary Education – Ongoing Activities

• CFPB Paying for College tool, Your financial path to graduation, online tool to help 

prospective students make informed decisions about financing their education. The tool 

helps prospective borrowers navigate financial aid offers. Financial inTuition podcast 

focuses on a variety of topics pertaining to saving and paying for higher education, managing 

money, and repaying student loan debt. Repay Student Debt web guide provides information 

and advice to help students optimize how they pay off their student loans.

• CFPB Child Savings Account program guides for programs that help low-income and 

economically vulnerable consumers in saving for their children’s postsecondary education: 

Design and evaluation principles for measuring the effects of Children Savings Account 

programs and Common metrics guide for Children’s Savings Account programs.

• ED Student Aid website saw a total of 217 million visits in FY 20, including visits to content 

in Spanish. Aid Summary provides users a dashboard to view detailed information about 

each individual grant, loan, and aid overpayment and remaining eligibility; borrowers can see 

their progress toward repaying their loans, receive alerts about their accounts, and if 

applicable, track the number of qualifying payments made toward Public Service Loan 

Forgiveness: 7.6 million users since launch in February 2020. Loan Simulator tool provides 

borrowers more personalized information about their federal student loan repayment options.

Annual Student Loan Acknowledgment informs borrowers about their current level of 
2020 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 

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student loan indebtedness, launched in April 2020: 858,628 users. Aidan virtual assistant 

answers common questions, pilot launched in 2020: 545,763 users.

• ED myStudentAid mobile app allows submission of the Free Application for Federal Student 

Aid (FAFSA): 2.5 million FAFSA submissions and 133,417 borrowers checked student loan 

balances using the app.

• GSA USA.gov website visits on higher education: 227,510 visits and 1,111 calls in English, 

77,007 visits and 113 calls in Spanish.

Postsecondary Education – Events, Campaigns, Social Media 

• ED Federal Student Aid Training Conference, December 2019, included three sessions on 

Financial Literacy Matters attended by approximately 1,000 representatives of higher 

education institutions. Best Practices were discussed and distributed at the session and at a 

resource table.

Retirement Savings and Investor Education – Ongoing Activities

• DOL distributed approximately 187,000 printed publications on workplace retirement plans 

and saving for retirement (also available on website). For populations ranging from college 

seniors about to enter the workforce through all stages of an individual’s career as well as 

employers with a retirement plan and small business owners without a retirement plan. 

• DOL released Protecting Retirement and Health Care Benefits after Job Loss publication for 

dislocated workers in two new languages in response to demand (Traditional Chinese and 

Haitian Creole), in addition to Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Polish. 

• DOL issued a number of final rules and guidance on key issues of interest to workers and 

employers. DOL updated its publications and outreach materials on these key issues 

including electronic disclosure. Publications, including those developed with the IRS, were 

also updated for the SECURE Act. 

• DOL responded to 101,706 inquiries related to workplace retirement plans and saving for 

retirement, recovered $442.7 million in pension benefits for 22,582 individuals, and 

conducted 3,371 outreach events related to retirement benefits reaching 34,667 individuals.

• CFPB and FDIC Money Smart for Older Adults online and print curriculum materials 

designed to educate older consumers and their caregivers. Available in English and Spanish. 

Cumulative distribution exceeded 1.2 million from launch through FY 20.

• CFPB fraud prevention placemats and other print handouts to reach older adults who receive 

meal service, such as at senior centers help older adults avoid fraud and scams. 16 placemats 

are available in English and Spanish. More than 4.6 million placemats have been distributed 

since the program began in 2016.

• CFTC Updated CFTC.gov Learn and Protect Section: 80,000 views since launch on April 1.

• CFTC released new online, print and downloadable/pdf materials on the following topics: 

Enhanced Registration Deficient (RED) List, Agricultural Customers Resources, How to 

Select a Futures Broker or Advisor, Account Statement and Trade Confirmation Checklist, 

Before Investing in Commodity Pools, and How to Protect Yourself from Fraud.

• CFTC will participate in Futures Fundamentals, an educational website.
2020 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 

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• GSA USA.gov website visits on saving, investing and retirement: 785,319 visits and 2,203 

phone calls in English, 277,462 visits and 2,203 phone calls in Spanish.

• OPM Retirement Savings Calculators available online for federal employees. 

• SEC Investor.gov online resources to inform investment decisions and avoid fraud: 8.7 

million sessions, 71% of respondents surveyed indicated that they learned something that 

might impact their behavior. Has investor alerts about scams related to the COVID-19 

pandemic. A page of materials and resources have been translated into Spanish; selected 

resources translated into Chinese, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Creole.

• SSA web content and blogs on the following topics: Get Your Social Security Benefit 

Statement: 89,955 views; What You Should Know About Applying for Retirement: 31,265

views; Our Newly Redesigned Retirement Benefits Portal: 26,924 views; Why Women Need 

to Plan Carefully to Make the Best Retirement Decisions: 16,428 views; Social Security 

Secures Today and Tomorrow for Workers and Their Families: 14,164 views; 3 Reasons 

Why Social Security is Important to Women: 11,571 views; and Plan for Your Future with a 

my Social Security Account Today!: 9,371 views.

• SSA provides 70+ publications in Spanish. Ten publications are available in Arabic, Chinese, 

Farsi, French, Greek, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Vietnamese at 

www.ssa.gov/multilanguage. SSA has nearly 150 print materials on a wide range of topics in 

American Sign Language and 12 languages other than English. SSA also provides resources 

tailored to the preferences and interests of historically underserved communities including: 

American Indians and Alaska Natives, African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders, Hispanic Americans, Women, Blind or Visually Impaired, Deaf or Hard of 

Hearing, and Same-Sex Couples.

Retirement Savings and Investor Education – Events, Campaigns, Social Media 

• DOL webinars What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan (held in English and 

Spanish): 504 attendees; Retirement: Are You Ready? (targeted at older workers, with SSA, 

CFPB, and HHS): 432 attendees; Get Empowered - Make the Most of Your Job and Improve 

Your Financial Security: Building Financial Solutions for People with Disabilities (in 

celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act). Attendance at 

these 3 webinars totaled over 1,200, with over 80% customer satisfaction.

• DOL hosted Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities Campaign webinars: 2 

webinars with over 660 attendees and 80% customer satisfaction. Webinars are for 

employers, especially small business owners, to assist them in complying with ERISA.

• OPM Federal Benefits Training Event virtual/interactive online training August 10-

September 3, provided to Human Resources professionals from various federal agencies, on 

topics such as Thrift Savings Plan, Social Security Benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts, 

Federal Employees Group Life Insurance, and Long-Term Care Insurance. 300 registered 

participants.

• SSA Social Security Matters blog has over 390,000 subscribers, 14,000 Social Security 

update subscribers, and more than 1,000 Twitter followers. 

 
2020 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 

U.S. FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION COMMISSION

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Military – Ongoing Activities

• CFPB Misadventures in Money Management (MiMM) online graphic novel trains future and 

current servicemembers on how to navigate financial landmines. Available for use by all of 

the U.S. Armed Forces and the public. To date, the program has reached more than 35,707 

future and current servicemembers with more than 91 percent of them reporting gaining 

knowledge.

• DoD Financial Readiness Common Military Training in 2019-20, Military Service 

implementation of training; to align with specific critical learning outcome-based 

requirements for servicemembers. Impact will be tracked through Status of Forces Survey 

questions on financial condition, behavior, knowledge.

• DoD Sen$e mobile app launched to provide financial literacy information and resources at 

any time and place to support DoD efforts to effectively deliver financial literacy training 

required.

• DoD MilSpouse Money Mission website launched, financial literacy education resources for 

military spouses.

• VA provided Transition Assistance Program online, in person and via documents to over 

250,000 transitioning servicemembers. Customer satisfaction is over 94%.

Military – Events, Campaigns, Social Media 

• DoD held Financial Readiness Network meeting in February 2020 to connect with federal 

departments and agencies and non-federal entities that provide direct and indirect support to 

servicemembers and their families. Discussion included results from Status of Forces Survey 

data and Military Service results and implications for program development.

• DoD held Financial Capability Month (April) digital campaign comprised of weekly themes 

to increase financial literacy with a focus on preparedness. Campaign included social media 

messaging, articles and graphics to provide information. 

• DoD and FTC in Military Consumer Month (July) developed and executed campaign focused 

on five key areas: earn, spend, borrow, save, and invest. 

• DoD held servicemember and spouse focus groups/listening sessions in spring 2020, at 

which DoD heard servicemembers are interested in increasing their financial literacy and 

receiving vetted and reliable information that is easy to access.
2020 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 

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Appendix: Summary of Public Meetings/Hearings and Summary Data 

on Mymoney.gov and Phone Number

Summary of Public Meetings/Hearings

• October 6, 2020. Virtual meeting addressed the National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2020 

and Financial Wellness Response and Recovery: Assisting Consumers in Navigating 

Pandemic Financial Challenges.

• May 12, 2020. Virtual meeting addressed FLEC response to COVID-19.

• Additional information about FLEC Public Meetings can be found here: 

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/consumer-policy/financial-literacy-and-educationcommission/financial-literacy-and-education-commission-previous-meetings.

Summary Data on www.Mymoney.gov and Phone Number

• In FY 20, www.mymoney.gov received a total of 694,095 views, with the most views in 

April. Mymoney.gov provided links to other government coronavirus response pages and 

provided information about FLEC public meetings and the National Strategy.

• 1-844-USA-GOV1 received 17, 927 calls in English related to financial capability, saving, 

investing, higher education, and housing, and 5,638 calls in Spanish on these topics. 
19
U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission

www.mymoney.gov