Washington Financial Literacy Work Group

Stock Based Loan Programs: What Investors Need to Know

2011-06-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

Investors who need cash — or who want to tap the value of their portfolios without selling their investments — might be tempted to apply for a "stock-based loan," pledging fully paid securities as collateral for the loan.

However, stock-based loan programs can be risky, especially when they involve "non-recourse" loans from unregistered, unregulated, third-party lenders.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority recently issued an alert regarding Stock Based Loan programs providing investors with information they need to know.

View the FINRA alert

Report & Recommendations Submitted To Governor And Legislature

2008-12-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Washington Financial Literacy Work Group has submitted its final report and recommendations to Governor Chris Gregoire and members of the legislature.

View the report online:
Final Report (PDF)
Final Recommendations (PDF)
Supporting Documents For Final Report (PDF)

Washington Financial Literacy Work Group Finalizes Recommendations

2008-11-06T14:23:00.000-08:00

Members of the Washington Financial Literacy Work Group have finalized the recommendations that they'd like to make to the Governor and members of the Legislature.

DFI is busy putting together a report that will be delivered to the Governor on December 1, 2008.

View A Copy Of The Recommendations (PDF)

Interim Report # 2 Sent To Governor's Office

2008-10-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Washington Financial Literacy Work Group recently sent its second interim report to the Governor's Office.

This interim report identifies the gaps and needs for financial education in Washington State.

View Interim Report # 2 (PDF)

Draft 1 Of Financial Literacy Recommendations

2008-09-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

At the last Financial Literacy Work Group meeting, the Work Group developed its first draft of recommendations.

These recommendations will be fine tuned during the next 2 months and will be presented to the Governor and members of the Legislature on December 1, 2008.

View Draft 1 Of Recommendations (PDF)

Audio and Meeting Minutes from July 23, 2008 Meeting Now Available

2008-08-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

Listen to the financial literacy Work Group discuss the gaps and needs for financial literacy in Washington State.

Streaming Audio: http://dfi.wa.gov/work-group/audio/full-wg-july-23.asx
Meeting Minutes: http://dfi.wa.gov/work-group/notes/july-23-fg-meeting.pdf

The next Work Group meeting is this Wednesday, August 20th, 8:30 am - 12:00 pm.

Preliminary Recommendations From The Non-Profit Subcommittee

2008-08-15T11:11:00.001-07:00

The subcommittees have been working hard to come up with recommendations that they would like to include in the final report to the Governor and members of the Legislature.

Below are some DRAFT recommendations that the non profit subcommittee has come up with. The full Work Group will discuss these recommendations at the next meeting on Wednesday, August 20th.

Provide incentives for participation in financial education
Establish broad based financial literacy marketing and outreach campaign
Create dedicated state funding source for financial education and related asset building activities
Mandate/strongly encourage that integration of financial literacy into existing services for targeted populations
Create instructors’ learning center/clearinghouse
Establish a demonstration project through local asset building coalitions to bring financial fitness to scale in one community
Ensure competent lead organization to manage and continually update clearinghouse system
Mandate financial literacy as part of K-12 learning (implement FLPPP recommendations)

Gaps & Needs For Financial Education In Washington Schools

2008-07-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

At the last Work Group meeting the State Education Subcommitee presented their findings on gaps and needs for financial education in Washington schools.

Gaps:

No financial education requirement in Washington Schools.
No adopted set of financial education standards
No sustainable curriculum/program
No funding
Little awareness of current programs and tools
Programs/Curriculum for alternative education (religious groups, ethnic groups, home school)
Financial education training for educators

Needs

Funded mandate for financial education to be taught in Washington schools
Sustainable curriculum/programs
Adoption of financial education standards

View their presentation (PDF)

Preliminary Findings Of State Agencies Providing Funding For Financial Literacy

2008-07-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

The State Agency Subcommittee is pleased to share its preliminary findings on which Washingotn State agencies are currently providing funding for financial literacy.

View Preliminary Findings: http://dfi.wa.gov/work-group/finlit-funding.pdf

Work Group Getting Clearer Picture Of Financial Literacy Efforts Funded By The State

2008-07-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

The State Subcommittee recently sent out a survey to all Washington state agencies and public colleges to learn more about financial education programs that are being funded by the State.

The committee is currently analyzing survey results from more than 78 responses. The results will help them determine what programs are being funded by the State and where there are gaps and needs.

Below is a brief snapshot of some of the data gathered from the survey:

-- 33 respondents said they provide financial literacy training and/or services to Washington residents.

-- 20 respondents said they provide financial literacy training to their employees.

-- 7 respondents said that they offer grants to community and/or non-profit partners to deliver financial literacy services to residents.

Washington Financial Literacy Work Group To Survey School Administrators And Educators

2008-06-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

An update from the State-Education Subcommittee

The State-Education subcommittee is planning to develop a survey that they will distribute to administrators (principals, staff, boards, etc.) as well as teachers this coming school year.

Members of the subcommittee have noted that the lack of funding for a financial education component in Washington schools, and the lack of consistency in financial education curriculum are major concerns of theirs.

The subcommittee is also looking at what resources are or can be made available to Washington educators.

If you know of any resources, please email them to me at jlushene@dfi.wa.gov. I’ll forward them to the Subcommittee.

Update From The Private Sector Subcommittee

2008-06-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Private Sector Subcommittee has received 58 responses to the financial education survey they sent out to private sector businesses in Washington.

Through survey responses, the Private Sector Subcommittee has initially identified the following gaps in Washington:

1) a lack of adequate measurement, or a clearly identified baseline
2) a lack of standards in what financial education should include
3) a lack of alignment with the “Essential Academics Learning Requirements”
4) a lack of state mandate

The Private Sector Subcomittee will be sending out their private sector financial education survey to more organizations in Washington through contacts at the Association of Washington Business and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

State Subcommittee Update

2008-06-13T17:14:00.001-07:00

Today, the State subcommittee sent out a letter and online survey to all Washington State Agency Directors.

The survey will help the subcommittee determine what Washington State agencies are doing regarding financial literacy and financial education.

View survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=fZDDlRjotlDRaVbDlU6N2A_3d_3d

Second Meeting Of Work Group

2008-05-30T14:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, the full work group conducted its second meeting. An interim report to be delivered to the Governor and Legislature before the end of June is currently being written.

Notes and files from the meeting are linked below.

More Information:
May 29 Meeting Notes (PDF)
Private Sector Subcommittee Presentation (PDF)
Non-Profit Subcommittee Presentation (PDF)

Financial Literacy Work Group Off To A Great Start

2008-05-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Washington Financial Literacy Work Group has hit the ground running.

Currently, the Work Group is gauging the status of financial literacy and is determining what programs are funded by the State and what programs are not.

The Work Group has formed 4 subcommittees to look at the status of financial literacy in Washington State.

The 4 subcommittees are:
-- Non-Profit
-- Private Sector
-- State
-- State: Education Focus.

The private sector and non-profit subcommittees have surveyed organizations about their financial education programs. To date, the two surveys have received over 100 responses.

The State:education focus and State subcommittees are also moving ahead and have had several productive meetings. Both subcommittees plan to develop surveys in the month ahead as well.

An interim report will be delivered to the Governor and members of the Legislature by the end of June.

More Information:
Work Group Web Site
Private Sector Survey
Non-Profit Survey