The FINRA Foundation aims to advance financial education and capability by creating new understanding and relationships that help people build wealth and invest for life goals.
We define financial capability not only by knowledge and skill, but also by participation in the financial mainstream. We recognize that investing is a key facilitator of building wealth, and financial security, and that effective financial education and protection requires collaboration, innovation, expertise, and responsible commitment to consumer financial well-being.
Our Guiding Principles
- Learning by Doing - The Foundation embraces active engagement, and practical application that is flexible, experimental, and adaptive.
- Awareness - We build relationships by building trust, which requires acknowledging the financial experiences of people without making judgements regarding means and methods, respecting dynamics and circumstances.
- Collaboration - We recognize that capacity building requires a level of commitment and investment that exceeds what the Foundation can provide on its own. We therefore look for collaborative approaches to challenges that require collective engagement and resources.
- Long View - The Foundation’s commitment to improving financial capability in the United States is long-term. It follows that our programs and partnerships must also take the long view.
Fostering Financial Education In Communities
Our Partners and Initiatives
The Foundation and its national partners are committed to advancing financial capability and participation by all Americans in the United States financial ecosystem.
Putting Youth on the Path to Building Financial Capability and Stability
The Foundation and Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) partner to provide financial education programming and digital resources to meet the needs of girls and their families. Together, GSUSA and the Foundation revamped the GSUSA Financial Empowerment Programming by developing a Financial Empowerment Toolkit designed to aid Girl Scouts in the development of council-run events leveraging GSUSA’s financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and cookie business badges to teach girls key financial concepts. In addition, GSUSA and the Foundation introduced the first set of bilingual (English/Spanish) Daisy and Brownie badges to bring the Girl Scouts experience to more girls and their families.
Building Financial Capability and Stability in Communities
The Foundation and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) partner to provide NALCAB’s practitioner network financial coach training and certification, in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Practitioners integrate financial coaching into existing asset-building programs that equip adults with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed financial decisions, manage debt, and build wealth.
Learning by Doing
The Foundation partners with nonprofit partners to deliver the Stock Market Game™ in lower income areas, both rural and urban. The Stock Market Game is a project-based financial education program widely used in 4th − 12th grade classrooms nationwide to teach students the importance of saving and investing by building their financial acumen. Starting with a virtual cash account of $100,000, student teams strive to create the best performing portfolio. Through an integrated curriculum and online market simulation focusing on investing, the Stock Market Game teaches students cooperation, communication, and leadership as they relate long-term saving and investing knowledge to financial news and current events.
The Foundation partners with the Society for Financial Education and Professional Development (SFE&PD) Student Ambassador Program to address the financial education gaps at the collegiate level through peer-to-peer financial education. The program enhances financial capability among the next generation of investors and heightens students’ awareness of a range of career options in the securities industry.
Supporting the Next Generation of Financial Capability Researchers
In order to expand the pipeline of researchers in the field of financial capability, the FINRA Foundation offers fellowships to advanced doctoral candidates pursuing dissertation research centrally concerning financial services and capital markets. Learn more >>
