A daily webinar dealing with different ways to improve personal financial practices will be featured during Money Smart Week, beginning on Saturday (Apr. 10) and running through Apr. 18.
The online sessions are free, but advance registration is advised and can be completed here.
Money Smart Week is a national public education program coordinated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as part of its outreach efforts supporting economic and financial education. Its goal is to provide knowledge and skills that enable people to make better-informed financial decisions based on knowledge of saving, spending, borrowing and planning.
The upcoming webinars run either 15 or 20 minutes apiece. They will include strategies to begin family conversations about money, reasons to open a savings account and the basics of the federal student loan program. Other topics to be covered include managing personal finances during COVID-19, identity theft and resources available to assist homeowners and renters during the pandemic.
Anyone registered for the webinars can choose to attend any or all of the eight presentations.
The Money Smart program began in 2002 as an effort by more than 40 Chicago-area organizations to promote financial literacy, under the umbrella of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank. It is supported locally by United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley.
An email from United Way said the week’s programming is aimed at helping people, especially those hit hardest economically by the COVID-19 pandemic, manage their personal finances with guidance from experts nationwide. It noted that the webinars will include tips for “starting the often challenging conversation about money with friends or family.”
Charles L. Evans, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said that the week’s programming aims to help “people from all backgrounds build financial capability.
“When consumers learn how to best save, spend, plan, and invest, they can take steps toward securing their financial futures,” he said. “A community of well-informed consumers helps support a healthy economy.”