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Summary of Financial Literacy and Education Commission Meeting

February 12, 2014

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington D.C. – Cash Room

Webcast available at: http://treas.yorkcast.com/webcast/Play/2da53e68255341a2874eed63fcfc2cf71d

Executive Summary

Louisa Quittman, Director of Financial Education for the U.S. Department of the

Treasury, opened the meeting and introduced Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions

Cyrus Amir-Mokri of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Assistant Secretary Amir-Morki described the impediments to economic mobility faced by 

families with insupportable debt and low levels of income and assets. He cited a recent finding 

by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) that more than 40 percent of American 

households are in asset poverty, meaning that they would be unable to sustain themselves even at 

poverty level if their current income were interrupted. He described the actions of the 

Department and the FLEC to address this by “starting early for financial success.” These include

the new myRA retirement savings product as well as the Department’s recent efforts to raise 

awareness about income-based student loan repayment options offered by the Department of 

Education. Amir-Mokri articulated the target outcomes for the Commission in 2014 (see 

appendix). He noted that the new President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for 

Young Americans would coordinate and enhance the work of the FLEC by advising the 

Secretary of the Treasury and the President on how to promote the financial capability of young 

people as they make decisions about managing their money, pursuing higher education, and 

beginning to plan and save for their futures.

Director Richard Cordray of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) discussed 

the importance of working with states and local school districts to promote financial education in 

schools, as well as the challenges in such efforts. He noted the Bureau’s support of financial 

education in schools. He indicated that hands-on efforts such as school banking programs, 

entrepreneurship training, and financial games or other simulations can help students deepen 

their financial knowledge and build financial capability in a more lasting way. He also described 

some of the CFPB’s financial education resources and decision making tools. 

Governor Jack Markell of Delaware provided keynote remarks on the role of state government 

in advancing financial empowerment. Governor Markell laid out a clear vision of how state 

governments can promote financial empowerment. He noted that, by fostering the financial 

stability of its citizens, states build their own economic vitality. Financial empowerment also 

makes government support programs for citizens more effective. He described a coalition of 

Delaware government agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and businesses 

working together to advance financial empowerment for all citizens of the state. Activities and 

programs include increasing access to one-on-one financial counseling, tax filing assistance, 

“healthy” alternative financial products, and financial education. These initiatives are aimed at 
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students in pursuing higher education, military service members and veterans, low-wage 

workers, disabled individuals and others. Governor Markell encouraged other states to learn 

from Delaware.

Governor Markell also made the following recommendations for the federal government to 

complement states’ efforts:

• Establish Financial Empowerment Block Grants, which would be awarded to states with 

commitment by Governors to take action on this issue and to use a strategy that has 

proven to make a difference.

• Fund a demonstration project with three to five states over a five-year period to develop 

and implement a statewide, multi-sector approach to financial empowerment. 

• Create an Inter-Governmental Commission on Financial Empowerment, made up of 

Governors and federal policy leaders to explore partnerships that can incentivize greater 

activity and engagement, through federal and state programs and public policy. 

• Require that federal contracts with states include financial empowerment activities.. For 

example, states should be required to offer a financial empowerment component as part 

of programs involving federal public housing, community development, small business 

development, foster care, and Head Start. 

• Examine agencies and programs to identify touch points where financial coaching and 

financial literacy can complement existing services and strategies.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consumer Policy Melissa Koide of the U.S. Department of 

the Treasury introduced the following panel of state and local experts: 

• José Cisneros, Treasurer, City and County of San Francisco

Treasurer Cisneros described the city’s efforts to promote financial empowerment, including the 

Kindergarten to College program, which establishes a college savings account for child entering 

kindergarten in the city’s public schools. He noted that federal agencies could help resolve 

technical legal questions related to opening appropriate accounts for low-income families to save 

for their children, and address asset limits for certain types of programs that may inhibit saving.

• Kate Marshall, Treasurer, State of Nevada 

Treasurer Marshall described the financial education pilots that her office sponsored in high and 

middle schools in the state, and shared preliminary findings on their outcomes. She also 

described the College Kickstart program, which provides a matched 529 plan to every 

kindergarten student in the state. Treasurer Marshall encouraged the FLEC to highlight savings

when federal agencies encourage young people to plan for post-secondary education.

• Eileen I. Klein, President, Arizona Board of Regents 

Ms. Klein described the need in Arizona to support low-income and minority students in 

attending college and completing it successfully. She detailed the new Arizona Earn to Learn 

Initiative, which matches federal funds from HHS’s Assets for Independence Program with an 

eight-to-one match of scholarships and tuition assistance into the state’s three universities. Low 
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income high school students who save $500 over six months can receive $4,000 in tuition 

assistance when enrolling in a state university. The program boasts a 90 percent retention rate 

for students in their second year. Supporters credit the high retention rate to ongoing financial 

counseling provided to students once they are enrolled

• Nan Morrison, President and CEO, Council on Economic Education

Ms. Morrison provided information on the status of financial education requirements in state 

education standards. She noted that 43 states have standards or requirements, but that the level 

of financial education that students receive varies widely. Some requirements may be unfunded, 

and some financial education may include no testing of students’ knowledge. She recommended 

that the federal government support efforts to enhance the implementation of financial education 

in the states, including by providing guidance on what approaches are effective and measures of 

success.

Members of the Commission raised a number of issues in a discussion with the panelists

following their remarks. The discussion covered the role of games in promoting financial 

education, the dynamics of engaging with the philanthropic community, and how how FLEC 

could further support the linkage between financial institutions and school-based savings account 

programs for children. 

In the meeting’s final presentation, Ray Boshara, Assistant Vice President and Director for the Center 

for Household Financial Stability for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis spoke about “Building a 

Healthy Balance Sheet Early in Life.”

Mr. Boshara described the “balance sheet” nature of the Great Recession, in which young families 

generally had weaker and undiversified balance sheets, largely because of high levels of mortgage debt. 

Since the recession, young families have seen a much lower rate of recovery than have older families, 

whose assets are more diversified and larger in amount. It appears that lower levels of assets represent a 

lasting trend that persists even after the recession. 

Mr. Boshara advocated a number of solutions, including offering financial education in schools and tying

it to access to a savings account to enable experiential learning. He also noted the importance of saving 

vehicles such as myRA retirement accounts; the proposed Roth at Birth, which would enable saving for 

children; and an “Early Pells” program, which the College Board has proposed. Early Pells would take a 

small portion of what an income-eligible family would receive upon entering college and use those funds 

to start a college savings account while the child is still in grade or middle school. He noted that the

benefits of saving early go well beyond a strong balance sheet later in life. Recent research shows that 

when families have savings, assets, fewer debts, and higher levels of net worth – as distinct from simply 

higher incomes or wages – they are more likely to see a host of other positive outcomes. These include

attending college and completing it, having children with better outcomes, experiencing higher rates of 

intra- and inter-generational mobility, enjoying better health, and finding better labor market outcomes 

later in life. To conclude, he stressed the importance of offering financial education and vehicles that 

enable people to save early to build diversified assets and open opportunities for economic mobility. 

DAS Koide closed the meeting with a review of the FLEC’s activities of the last year and 

objectives for the year ahead. She highlighted the four primary areas of the FLEC’s work, which 
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correspond to a number of ideas raised by the panel: promoting experiential financial education 

for children through school banks and credit unions; providing better information for students 

about higher education decisions, and managing student debt; expanding availability of financial 

education and savings products in the workplace, and a continued emphasis on research and 

evaluation of financial education initiatives. (See FLEC Goals for 2014 for more details.)

In recapping the substance of the meeting, DAS Koide remarked, “What you’re really 

introducing is optimism.”

Committee Members Present

Michael Herndon Commodity Futures Trading Commission 

Richard Cordray Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Camille Busette Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Susan Shockey Department of Agriculture 

Brenda McDaniel Department of Defense 

David Soo Department of Education 

Jeannie Chaffin Department of Health and Human Services

Meredith Regine Department of Labor

Melissa Koide Department of the Treasury

Cyrus Amir-Mokri Department of the Treasury

Julie Schroeder Department of Veterans Affairs

Luke Reynolds Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Anna Alvarez-Boyd Federal Reserve Board 

Cristina Miranda Federal Trade Commission 

Ryan Edelstein General Services Administration 

Kenneth Worthey National Credit Union Administration 

Barry Wides Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Alan Sorcher Securities and Exchange Commission 

Nathaniel Bishop Small Business Administration 

Douglas Walker Social Security Administration 

Tom Kelly White House Domestic Policy Council