Office of State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier

Financial education is critical to future success.  The Treasurer’s Office supports a wide variety of programs and resources to help Connecticut’s youth start off on a solid financial footing to reach their future financial goals.

Coalitions, Summits and Conferences

Your Dollar Your World

The Treasurer co-sponsored a youth conference for Connecticut high school students on climate change, human rights and workplace protections at the University of Connecticut in 2008 to expose students to themes and topics in corporate social responsibility (CSR), human rights and green investing. The conference challenge students to think about how personal financial decisions that students make in their everyday lives can foster positive change.  For information go to www.state.ct.us/ott.

Promoting Financial Education in Schools

The Treasurer’s Office partners with education institutions throughout the state to offer events at schools promoting saving, planning and responsible money management.  For information or materials contact Madelyn Colon, Financial Education Coordinator at (860) 702-3291, Madelyn.Colon@ct.gov.

Personal Finance Curriculum
The Treasurer’s Office collaborates with the CT Department of Education to make curriculum available on personal finance and promotes non-profit organizations such as the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), the NYC Muriel F. Siebert Foundation Personal Finance Program and non-commercial financial education providers that offer free financial education curriculum.  For information or materials, contact Madelyn.Colon@ct.gov, Financial Education Coordinator at (860) 702-3291 or Lee Marcoux, Business and Finance Technology Education, CT State Department of Education at (860) 713-6768, or visit www.sde.ct.gov/sde, and follow the Teaching and Learning Career Technical Education Links to the Personal Financial Education page.

CT Jump$tart Coalition for Youth Financial Literacy
The Treasurer’s Office is a founding member of a public/private collaboration to research and develop policy and plan programs to prepare young people to effectively manage their personal finances.  Our partners include Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, the CT Department of Education, CT Department of Banking, local non-profits and educators. The state coalition is affiliated with the National Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.  For information or materials, contact Madelyn.Colon@ct.gov, Financial Education Coordinator, Office of The Treasurer (860) 702-3291, or visit www.ctjumpstart.org.

CT Youth Financial Education Conference
The Treasurer’s Office partners with Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, the CT Department of Education and CT Jump$tart Coalition for Youth Financial Literacy to offer a financial education conference for CT high school students on budgeting, credit management, auto finance, college savings and investing.  The conference is held every spring and, draws over 700 students from dozens of high schools across the state.  For information or materials, contact lgolden@jaconn.org, Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, Inc. (860) 525-4510, www.jaconn.net.

K-12 Educational Material and Programs

“Scruples” Youth Financial Education Animation Videos
The Treasurer’s Office partnered with Newspapers in Education (NIE) and Hartford Animation Institute to offer curriculum and an animated cartoon CD promoting responsible money habits for young children, available for school, community and media use.  For information and or materials, contact Joe Young at (860) 560-5893, www.tohai.org or Lydia Neals, at (860) 702-3259, Office of the State Treasurer.

ABCs of Credit Card Finance
The Treasurer’s Office collaborated with the Center for Student Credit Card Education and the CT Department of Education to publish a free credit education guide and training modules for high school students.  The topics include: budgeting, hidden costs of credit cards, choosing the best card, credit card do’s and don’ts, credit scores and reports, consequences of irresponsible use, and other credit-related subjects.  For copies, contact Lydia Neals, at (860) 702-3259.

Junior Achievement of Southwest New England

The Treasurer’s Office collaborates with Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, to support programs for students on business, economics, entrepreneurship career development and financial literacy.  For information or materials, contact Lou Golden, Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, Inc. at (860) 525-4510, www.jaconn.org.

Youth IDAs (Individual Development Accounts)
Youth IDA programs provide matched savings accounts for low-income middle and high school youth to save for education and/or employment expenses, rent, or campus housing, a computer for educational purposes, or an auto, including the cost of drivers education and testing fees.  The program has a financial education training component and requires regular bank account deposits over a program savings period.  Youth IDA programs are administered by community based organizations throughout the state.  For information, contact Lisa Arends, at (860) 263-6794, or Marie Hawe, at (203) 352-4851.

CT Stock Market Game (SMG)
The Treasurer’s Office collaborates with the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education and the CT Council on Economic Education to offer an online classroom stock market trading simulation game for middle and high school students.  The  program includes lesson plans for teachers on the U.S. economic system and allows students to use a virtual cash account to learn about investing.  SMG can be used in math, language arts, technology and social studies coursework.  This program is sponsored by the Foundation for Investor Education.  Email contact Elizabeth Reidel, New England Regional Coordinator, Foundation for Investor Education at www.sifma.org

Money Smart for Young Adults

The FDIC’s Money Smart for Young Adults curriculum helps youth ages 12—20 learn the basics of handling their money and finances.  The curriculum is free and is aligned with state education standards.  The eight modules are available on CD at www.fdic.gov/moneysmart and cover banking, checking accounts, paying for college and setting financial goals.  For information on using the curriculum in your community, contact www.fdic.gov.

Money Math: Lessons for Life

This is a four lesson curriculum supplement for middle school math classes using real-life examples from personal finance.  For information go to http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/indiv.htm.

MoneySkill

MoneySkill is a free online personal financial curriculum for young adults developed by The AFSA Education Foundation.  Teachers can use this module curriculum to increase student understanding of income, expenses, assets, liabilities and risk management. For information go to www.moneyskill.org

Additional Resources

JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is a national coalition of organizations dedicated to advocacy research and maintains a comprehensive financial literacy education clearinghouse for youth personal finance education materials from kindergarten to college. Visit www.jumpstart.org or call (888) 45-EDUCATE.

National Endowment for Financial Education—NEFE is a national foundation that conducts research in the field of financial literacy education and offers online financial education resources for high school youth (NEFE High School Financial Planning Program), college students and recent grads.  Visit www.nefe.org

National Council for Economic Education (NCEE)

NCEE offers materials and internet based curriculum for teachers and students in economic education in K-12 schools across the nation and around the world. Visit www.councilforeconed.org

Young Money

Young Money magazine helps young adults and college students focus on money management, careers, investing, financial aid and student travel. Visit www.youngmoney.com

Your Life, Your Money

Sponsored by The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) this website offers personal stories, videos and a guide to The PBS television  program “Your life, Your money” on topics like: Making It, Keeping It, Make Your Money Work For Your, Digging out of Debt, Smart Savings, Get Insured, and Working and Living as a Freelancer.  Visit www.pbs.org/your-life-your-money

Practical Money Skills for life

For free materials, personal finance calculators and to download games such as Financial Football are available in ten languages, and listen to podcasts on a variety of personal finance topics visit www.practicalmoneyskills.com/resources.