Investor Education in Your Workplace™
The next phase of a workplace-based financial education program
pioneered by Wisconsin credit unions
Wisconsin companies and thousands of their employees
will benefit from a financial education program that
was developed and piloted in 2009 for the first time in
the United States by Wisconsin credit unions.
The Investor Education in Your Workplace™ program offers
a total value of $400,000 in free training for
as many as 4,000 employees of Wisconsin firms. It is completely
funded by generous grants from the Investor Protection Trust*
The program invites Wisconsin companies of any size to participate.
Skilled community educators from Wisconsin credit unions are
participating as part of Wisconsin credit unions' REAL Solutions
initiative, which helps people of all income levels build wealth. As
not-for-profits that do not have stockholders, credit unions’ role
is to help people regardless of profits
Program origin and evolution
The program originated in 2009 as an effort by Wisconsin
credit unions seeking to educate their own staff so that, in turn, they
could proactively stimluate investing among their 2.2 million
members.
The RP3 program, as it was called when it first
began, provided 30,000 hours of basic online investment education
for 3,520 employees of 80 Wisconsin credit unions. The effort was
honored with a Governor’s Financial Literacy Award in
2010.
Also in 2010, a select group of RP3 grads completed an additional 50 hours of
coursework to become CFE® Certified Financial Educators®
(CFE®). Now those specially trained community educators will
offer the same basic online program they initially completed to
employers across the state under the new program name, Investor
Education in Your Workplace.™
Training that has been proven effective!
Credit union employees who completed
the program in 2009 saw huge success:
-
An average passing grade of 87.69% on
coursework
-
An average 23.31% improvement in
knowledge
-
Positive changes in their financial
behaviors including 5% to 50% increases in the number of
participants to create a family budget; set short-, medium- and
long-term goals, as well as make regular contributions to a tax-deferred
retirement plan like an IRA or 401(k).
The training covers:
- Investing Basics, Goals, Strategy & Choices
- Certificates, Money Market, Mutual funds, Stocks, Bonds
- Formula Investment Plans and Dollar Cost Averaging
- Education Planning
- Retirement Planning &Terminology
Teach employees to:
- Set financial & investment goals
- Distinguish short-, mid- and long-term financial goals
- Establish an emergency fund
- Select investments to achieve short-, mid- and long-term goals
- Tap the power of compounding interest
- Realize the tax advantages of 401(k) and IRAs
- Identify the features and limitations of 401(k)s
- Maximize the power of tax-deferral on investment returns
- Use tax-deferred savings vehicles like IRAs, 401(k)s, etc.
- Manage risk as a saver/investor
- Diversify an investment portfolio
- Appreciate the role of financial professionals
- Deploy dollar cost averaging, automatic savings plans & other
tools
Benefits for participating companies
By making participating employees more financially fit, participating
companies may see improved bottom-line results including:
- Employees that are less stressed, happier and more productive
- Fewer workplace distractions
- Improved employee morale
- Reduced absenteeism
- Decreased turnover
Participating firms will receive
- Facilitation and coaching by CFE® Certified
Financial Educators (CFE®). These are skilled
community educators that have received rigorous financial education
training from the Heartland Institute. They are bound by a code
of conduct to provide unbiased information and not promote specific
financial products, partners or services.
- Free online coursework - a value of more than $400,000
to Wisconsin companies. Content consists of approximately
10-hours of self-paced learning for each participant and is conducted
solely online. Participating companies are encouraged to allow
employees to engage in the coursework during working hours although that
is not required. Employee participation will be strictly voluntary.
- A program welcome kit that includes simple,
step-by-step instructions for getting started, certificates for staff
that complete the program, assistance from CFE® Certified Financial
Educators (CFE®) throughout the program, and ongoing webinars as
the program progresses to encourage progress on the part
of employee-participants.
- Recognition for varying levels of staff
participation, at gold, silver and bronze levels.
Partners
League Contacts
-
Jim
Drogue, Vice President of Credit Union Development, (608)
514-0079
-
Chad
Helminak, Director of REAL Solutions and Outreach, (608)
514-0080
*This project is funded in part by a grant from the Investor
Protection Trust (IPT). The IPT is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit
organization dedicated to investor education. Since 1993 the IPT
has worked with the states to provide the independent, objective
investor education needed by all Americans to make informed investment
decisions. Visit www.investorprotection.org.
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