Financial Services Corps Personalized Financial Advice for Lower Income Families

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Financial Services CorpsPersonalized
Financial Advice for Lower Income Families

• 2009 NCLR Annual Conference
• Melissa Koide
• New America Foundation

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Financial Services Corps Rationale

• Economic Insecurity and Instability
• Lack of Savings
• Complex Financial Services
• Dissolution of Safety Nets
• Family
• Government
• No Trusted Source for Financial Advice

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Financial Services Corps Purpose

• National FSC would provide
• Infrastructure
• Funding
• Resources and Support
• Connect financial experts and advisors -- from
  certified financial planners to trained financial
  counselors -- with low and moderate income
  families and communities
• Provide families with financial expertise and
  tools
• navigate the complexities of the financial
  services sector,
• access assistance when facing financial
  difficulties, and
• plan for savings and investment goals.

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Financial Services Corps

• Stand alone entity, private, nonprofit
  organization, established by Congress
• Governed by a board of directors, which are
  appointed by the President with advice and
  consent of the Senate
• Funding appropriated through Congress
• Funds over 100 local Financial Development
  Clinics with as many as 1,000 offices across the
  country

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Financial Services Corps

• Makes grants to establish local Financial
  Development Clinics
• Engage financial experts in the Financial
  Services Corps
• Brings financial advise and counseling resources
  to lower income families, through the Financial
  Development Clinics and through a web portal and
  a toll free number
• Conducts research to understand the broad range
  of financial needs encountered by lower income
  families

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Financial Services Corps Financial Development
Clinics

• Dedicated, permanent staff
• Administer the Clinics
• Triage Assessment of the individuals financial
  circumstances
• Engage and coordinate debt counselors,
  homeownership counselors, legal services
• Work with the national FSC to engage local
  financial experts to provide personalized
  financial counseling and planning for mid to
  longer term financial goals
• Personalized financial assessment and planning
  through pro bono engagement of professional
  financial planners and trained financial
  counselors

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Financial Services CorpsResources and Research

• Collects information from the financial
  development clinics to
• Develop tools and resources to improve families
  financial circumstances
• Creates online resources - from budgeting tools,
  to financial calculators, to guides on savings
  and comparison shopping for financial products
• Develop the materials used by the Clinics and
  financial experts to assess and advise clients
• Develop financial advice standards offered
  through the financial development clinics
• Conducts and seeds research to understand the
  broad range of financial needs encountered by
  lower income families

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• New America Foundation
• Melissa Koide
• Koide_at_newamerica.net
• newamerica.net/programs/asset_building