Panel:
Improving Financial Decision-Making, Financial Health and Well-Being: Insights from Field Experiments
(Poverty and Income Policy)
Friday, November 4, 2016: 10:15 AM-11:45 AM
Kalorama (Washington Hilton)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Panel Organizers: Genevieve Melford, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Panel Chairs: Ida Rademacher, Aspen Institute
Discussants: Genevieve Melford, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and J. Michael Collins, University of Wisconsin
A growing body of research indicates that different types of interventions aimed at boosting financial health and well-being will be effective for consumers in different situations. Rather than treating “financial education” as a monolithic or one-size-fits-all approach, recent research suggests that interventions must be appropriately matched to an individual’s specific financial challenges, goals, and circumstances in order to make a meaningful difference in their financial behavior and outcomes. This panel will discuss different strategies to support individual financial health, and consider the implications for intervention design. The panel will present new experimental and quasi-experimental research on a range of strategies, including “intense” supports for consumers in different situations (financial coaching and credit counseling), lighter touch supports (such as teaching financial “rules of thumb”), and financial product design.
