Financial Capability And Asset Building With Diverse Populations

Global economic recovery in the aftermath of the Great Recession has not been experienced equally: while the share of wealth owned by the richest 3% has grown, the share owned by the poorest 90% continues to decline, as reported by Oxfam in 2016. This wealth divide disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority communities. This book underscores the importance of financial capability and asset building (FCAB) practice, policy and research during a period when vulnerable populations face increasingly difficult economic and financial realities. At the same time, retrenchment and privatization of government-sponsored social services have eroded the safety net available for families experiencing poverty or near-poverty conditions. The proliferation of products and services available from both formal and informal financial institutions highlights the need to promote FCAB to avoid and/or recover from financial difficulties, crises and poverty. The contributors to this volume disseminate findings from interventions designed to increase financial knowledge, financial management and financial access across several vulnerable populations, including immigrant communities. Further, they demonstrate the need for culturally sensitive FCAB service delivery, considering opportunities and barriers posed by past and current life situations, experiences and environments experienced by different populations. The book is aimed at policymakers, researchers and practitioners who assist financially vulnerable people. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Community Practice.

Financial Capability and Asset Building in Vulnerable Households is the first book of its kind. It prepares students and practitioners for financial practice. This comprehensive text offers knowledge and skills to enable families to improve their financial circumstances, and to promote policies and services for household economic security and development.

This book introduces the concept of financial capability and assembles the latest evidence from ground-breaking innovations with financially vulnerable families, and links it to education, policy, and practice. This book is a key resource for those interested in improving financial education and financial products and services for low-income families.

With today's availability of Social Security and Medicare, we typically think of the older years as a stage in life where people are supported financially. However, of the more than 40 million old adults currently living in the US, many are struggling financially living below or near the poverty line. They are lacking the assets necessary to see them through a period of life that is often longer than expected and that requires more health and long-term care. While financial vulnerability can be most pronounced in old age, it is often created across decades, revealing itself in later years when there is little opportunity to reverse a lifetime of disadvantage. The concept of Financial Capability refers to both an individual and structural idea that combines a person's ability to act with their opportunity to act in their best financial interests. In Financial Capability and Asset Holding in Later Life: A Life Course Perspective the concept of Financial Capability is used to underscore the importance of acquiring knowledge and skills while addressing policies and services than can build financial security. The volume assembles the latest evidence on financial capability and assets among older adults using a life course perspective, arguing that older adults need financial knowledge and financial services in order to build secure lives, and that this process needs to begin before it is too late to make effective changes and choices. Broken into three parts, the book's chapters - written by leading experts in the field - blend together empirical findings, economic and social theory, and case studies. Part 1 opens the book with a conceptual and empirical overview of financial capability and assets among older adults using a life course perspective. Part 2 presents chapters addressing financial vulnerability of diverse racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities, and immigrants. Part 3 includes chapters describing current policies, programs, and innovations, including a review of important issues of working and caregiving in later life, and a detailed assessment of "age-friendly" banking principles, banking products, services, and policies.

This book introduces the concept of financial capability and assembles the latest evidence from ground-breaking innovations with financially vulnerable families, and links it to education, policy, and practice. It is a key resource for those interested in improving financial education and financial products and services for low-income families.

This book introduces the concept of financial capability and assembles the latest evidence from ground-breaking innovations with financially vulnerable families, and links it to education, policy, and practice. It is a key resource for those interested in improving financial education and financial products and services for low-income families.

This second edition of the authoritative resource summarizes the state of consumer finance research across disciplines for expert findings on—and strategies for enhancing—consumers’ economic health. New and revised chapters offer current research insights into familiar concepts (retirement saving, bankruptcy, marriage and finance) as well as the latest findings in emerging areas, including healthcare costs, online shopping, financial therapy, and the neuroscience behind buyer behavior. The expanded coverage also reviews economic challenges of diverse populations such as ethnic groups, youth, older adults, and entrepreneurs, reflecting the ubiquity of monetary issues and concerns. Underlying all chapters is the increasing importance of financial literacy training and other large-scale interventions in an era of economic transition. Among the topics covered: Consumer financial capability and well-being. Advancing financial literacy education using a framework for evaluation. Financial coaching: defining an emerging field. Consumer finance of low-income families. Financial parenting: promoting financial self-reliance of young consumers. Financial sustainability and personal finance education. Accessibly written for researchers and practitioners, this Second Edition of the Handbook of Consumer Finance Research will interest professionals involved in improving consumers’ fiscal competence. It also makes a worthwhile text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in economics, family and consumer studies, and related fields.

Scholars, students, and policymakers will appreciate the volume's timely overview of the evolution of aging policy.