MADISON, WI (December 17, 2013) -- Filene Research Institute and the GFLEC announced today a research partnership to explore Americans’ financial capability using the 2012 National Financial Capability Study. Filene Research Fellow Annamaria Lusardi, academic director of George Washington University’s GFLEC, will guide the project.
This collaboration leverages GFLEC’s groundbreaking research relating to financial education and literacy, and Filene’s 25 years of research and innovation focused on driving impact for credit unions and their members. The project will result in four distinct reports that provide detailed data and insights on the financial needs of pre-retirees (ages 51-60), women, young adults and Latinos/Hispanics.
“Each of these groups represents an important constituency for credit unions,” says George Hofheimer, chief innovation and research officer at Filene. “The young adult and pre-retiree groups face inflection points in which they need to make important financial decisions. Latinos represent almost 20 percent of the U.S. population and almost all of the United States’ net population growth. And women are key household decision makers whose priorities, and preferences need to be better understood,” says Hofheimer.
The research project is expected to continue over an 11-month period. The first report will be released in early 2014.
“We are delighted to work with Filene on this important research, which will help credit unions understand the financial capability of their members and better serve their needs,” says Lusardi. Lusardi has served as a research fellow at Filene since 2010. The consumer finance think and do tank introduced its research fellows program in 2005 to create a formal link to top thought leaders in the academic, nonprofit and financial services worlds. Nine research fellows currently advise, counsel and interact with Filene to create vital and beneficial research surrounding the financial industry.
For more information on interviews with Filene’s research fellows, contact Kate Lawton at 608.661.3758 or katel@filene.org.
About Filene
Filene Research Institute is an independent, consumer finance think and do tank dedicated to scientific and thoughtful analysis about issues affecting the future of credit unions, retail banking and cooperative finance. Filene is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Nearly 1,000 members make the nonprofit's research, innovation and impact programs possible.
About the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center
Founded in 2011 at the George Washington University School of Business, the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center has positioned itself to be the world’s leading center for financial literacy research and policy. Through rigorous scholarship and research, wide-reaching education, and global policy and services, the Center works with partners in Washington, DC, throughout the United States, and across the globe to raise the level of financial knowledge.
GFLEC builds on more than ten years of academic research by Dr. Annamaria Lusardi, an early contributor to financial literacy as a field of study. By virtue of its location in the heart of Washington, DC, the Center is positioned to directly influence policymakers.