Up to 4000 Wisconsin credit union employees will be taking part in an online investment education program that is being managed in part by Progress Through Business through the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center on Business and Poverty.
The program is being funded by a $200,000
grant from the Investor Protection Trust.
The 18 month program will offer 30,000 hours of investment education, provided by Precision Information, including investment basics, managing IRAs, 401(k)s, managing risk, and diversifying portfolios, to name but a few
of the more than a dozen topics.
"Programs like this offer the chance to change peoples lives. Helping people develop financial literacy and an understanding of the financial markets gives them the tools to be independent and become part of the mainstream
economy," said John Hoffmire of Progress Through Business.
Credit unions in other parts of the country report benefits from such online education of their employees, according to the Wisconsin Credit Union League.
One credit union, after educating 1200 employees saw its sales exceed the national average across its product lines.
Another experienced a nearly trebling of the number of its IRA accounts.
The program began in late summer with each participating credit union staff completing 10 hours of on line learning
about investment products.
But there is more involved. For one thing the staff of may credit unions as well as volunteers will learn how to help
prepare and file tax returns and encourage investing by credit union members.
Such investing is important in efforts to reboot America’s
sagging economy.
While Americans are changing their habits and saving more
now, investing is crucial to accumulating wealth.
For one thing many families simply don’t have enough money for retirement, and are not using vehicles such as Health Savings Accounts for medical care.
This project will work to stimulate regular long-term investing.

Stimulating investment behavior is critical to economic recovery. Fear of job losses has
pushed Americans to save more now than ever, but saving
without regular investing still isn’t enough to accumulate the wealth an individual or family needs over a lifetime. Many individuals and families are under-prepared for retirement and commonly fail to use other investment
vehicles, such as programs for health care and higher education.
So the project will figure out, with Michael Collins help what – absent today’s extraordinary economic
circumstances – can motivate consistent investing over the long term. Michael is a professor in the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison.
Investors Protection Trust is based in Washington, DC and is a non-profit organization that helps consumers make informed investment decisions by providing non-commercial investor materials. And the Center on Business and
Poverty is based at the Wisconsin School of Business and is part of the Puelicher Center for Banking Education.