Running Head: LOW-INCOME FINANCE EDUCATION

Theory into Action: Personal Finance Education for Low-Income Adults

Matthew S. Svendsen
July 29th, 2016

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There is little doubt that the working class and impoverished people of inner-cities have
been underserved by the financial sector. With little to no immediate major advantages for
financial institutions in company growth among populations with little wealth to speak of; it
comes as no shock that these communities are often over-looked. Beyond basic depository
accounts with monthly fees and high interest loans, large financial institutions wealth building
tools and knowledge are generally non-existent to inner-city residents through the traditional
educational resources available to them (Bortz, 2012). The issue of non-existent finance
education becomes especially pervasive when noting the lack of financial education in high
schools. This becomes most detrimental in areas of low-income and working class populations
because of their lower rates of college attendance and because of the lack of resources and
professional networks readily accessible (Klugman, 2013). It is my objective to create a free
workshop/seminar to teach basic finance education to inner-city adults so they can understand
the financial tools available to grow and sustain wealth through sound financial management and
informed decision making. The goal for the inner-city populations is to help strip the
disadvantage created by non-availability to expertise in personal networks and formal education
settings. The goal for financial institutions is to show the financial viability and symbiosis that
financial education can create through sustaining and growing wealth for currently underserved
communities.
According to Nieto & Bode (2008), good education takes students seriously, uses
their experiences as a basis for further learning, and helps them to develop into informed,
critically aware, and empowered citizens. Taking this framework into account, it is apparent
that appreciating and utilizing the information and experiences of working class and
impoverished peoples of the inner-cities will help to create a knowledge base applicable to their

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everyday lives. Shared experience creates a strong bond for what may or may not work for
others in similar situations. This framework also posits the importance education has in creating
informed and empowered individuals capable of critical decision-making. For these reasons, it is
my belief that personal finance education is a key to further the financial situations of the
individuals who have not had the opportunity to learn basic finance through formal education
settings.
Adults across all demographics desire respect and the ability to act independently with
the hope to be able to provide for their self and their families. Many adults, however, feel
powerless in their situations as they lack the social position to be able to learn and exercise
professional skills (Young, 1990). In the old adage designating knowledge as power, it is the
intention of this program to place the power back in the hands of underprivileged populations to
learn, exercise, and follow through with professional knowledge pertinent to their current life
situations. Young also explains that oppression of marginalized groups comes in the form of
exploitation. The lower wages paid out by the privileged class to the working class creates a
need for working class people to give more of their time to attain enough money for basic
necessities. Because of this time constraint and exploitation, seeking, finding, and payment to
obtain professional skills becomes a barrier. Exploitation is even more far reaching when we
consider other forms of financial traps established such as state-sponsored lotteries which offer
little to no chance at financial gain, yet are played at a highly disproportionate amount by lowincome individuals with the subsequent proceeds reallocated to public education at rates
inconsistent with fund sources (Henricks, 2016). The creation of a free workshop for education
towards financial independence will help to place the power back in the hands of the working
class through knowledge and will aim to alleviate the time at work necessary for working class

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individuals through sound financial decision-making and wealth growing or debt reduction
techniques.
The need of financial education for low-income and working class families has long been
necessary and known. Organizations such as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) have
established programs to aid inner-city financial literacy (Financial Literacy Choice & Awareness
Campaign, 2016). This need, however, was obscured by a few variables relative to market
conditions in inner-city finances. Increasing amounts of family members in the workforce
followed by access to credit cards, payday loans, and other high interest or leveraged borrowing
along with equity in owned homes masked how severe the economic class gap was (Adams,
2013). When the housing markets (and subsequently other American and global markets)
collapsed due to monetized mortgage backed securities of high interest and vastly unaffordable
loans, the equity in most all homes was stripped away and low income families were no longer
able to borrow against the equity in their homes thus creating a vacuum on already outstanding
high interest debt accrued. With economies faltering, jobs became a scarcity and those working
class and low income individuals who were leveraged to the hilt were no longer able to afford
their debt. Because these types of financial practices are pervasive among low income and
working class neighborhoods, personal finance education should be considered even more
important to help stop the unneeded use of such financial tools for people in vulnerable financial
situations. The workshop being proposed will make efforts to educate people not only on what
financial tools and strategies might be best, but also those financial products that serve to prey on
the uninformed and financially desperate.
Implementing this program will take time in preparation of both the program itself and
the marketing to attract as many participants as possible. A rough estimate would place a

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timeline of six months to a year to gather appropriate materials, secure professional experts to
speak or facilitate, attain permissions for program locations, and market to target demographics.
The preparation of the program would include the creation of source materials for each
individual course as well as take-home reference guides and materials. The program would also
need to be crafted around areas of need to include only those financial products and
investment/savings methods which are viable for the attendees. While these programs and
curriculum are being designed, marketing will need to be done to include and involve as many
individuals in need and accepting of the program as possible. Fliers, posters, circulars, and other
forms of advertisement may be used to get the word out amongst the community for the
program.
This workshop/seminar will initially consist of two days broken down into several
personal finance categories including, but not limited to; retirement planning, budget creation
and implementation, informed credit and lending, and available/under-utilized financial tools.
This workshop will be prepared and facilitated by industry professionals with basic finance
information and course materials/information for participants to take home for further review.
This workshop will be open to the general public but will be marketed directly to low-income
community members and located in and across inner-city settings. Convenient locations will aim
to negate travel restrictions disadvantaging some low-income participants. Contact information
and access to support will be made available after the conclusion of the event to allow for
follow-up questions, continued information and advice, and consistent support. The access to
continued information and advice will allow for some closure in the gap of class difference as
disparities have been found across race and class boundaries for access to professional and
personal network ties to experts (Cornwell & Cornwell, 2008).

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Following the initial workshop, additional workshops will be set up quarterly to provide
refresher information for previous attendees and to initiate financial education for new
participants. Following the initial workshop, an assessment will be made to validate or negate
courses, aspects, or materials in the program. After each quarterly workshop, small changes will
be made to reflect the changing markets and to take current events into account. The goal will be
to successfully grow the program to a point of increased demand for additional locations and
capacity due to the increasing successful navigation of personal finances within the communities
served. The financial institution sponsoring the workshop will be able to mark success through
increased business via services and products offered to help maintain and increase levels of
wealth, and a bolstered reputation through service to traditionally underserved communities.
There are several issues to take into account that may be cause for concern prior to and
during the implementation of the program. The first of these limitations is the possible bias of
instructors towards the educational abilities of impoverished or low-income persons. According
to Rogalsky (2009), teachers surveyed about the causation of poverty, values of impoverished
peoples, and determinants of educational successes placed blame solely on the victims of poverty
with very little reference to outside forces acting on living situations. To overcome this
particular obstacle, sensitivity training and workshops can be given to all potential instructors to
teach the basics of cause and effect as it pertains to working class, low-income, and
impoverished populations. Using Paynes framework, as discussed in Rogalskys study, it has
been shown that a marked difference can be made in the attitudes and beliefs of educators toward
low-income and poverty-stricken students. Another hurdle is the distrust of low-income and
working class populations towards financial institutions. In a recent survey, 86% of people
familiar with the Occupy Wall Street movement agree that financial firms have too much power

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(van Gelder, 2012). Understanding this information and offering a workshop from a place of
humility, cooperative effort, and respect may afford an opportunity towards redemption for
financial institutions from workshop participants. The final obstacle is getting enough people in
the community interested in participation. Because of the reasons previously mentioned,
assumptions and preconceptions may lead to lagging attendance rates. To head this particular
issue off, community leaders may be tapped to advocate on behalf of the programs viability and
value to community members. Leading voices that community members can trust and relate to
will serve to lend credence to the program among the population it aims to serve.
Program success will take time to measure as shifts in attitudes and behaviors as well as
slow sustained growth can take years to show measurable gains. Tracking the use of both sound
financial planning products as well as any significant decline in predatory lending within lowincome neighborhoods may offer an assessment of program success. The follow-up and contact
amounts post-program may also be a sign of viability. Ultimately, success will be measured in
the slow and steady advancement of the economic condition of low-income and working class
neighborhoods due to growing wealth based on fiscally responsible decision making. There are
no tests or assessments to directly or immediately show results, but education that offers the tools
needed to level the playing field and at least suspend the widening of the economic chasm
between rich and poor will show its results through time.
There are no promises that can be made and like all things, there is no way to reach every
individual in need. Those willing to learn, however, deserve the right to the education that
allows them the opportunity for financial stability. Wealth is sustained and grown through
financial knowledge, access to expertise, and informed decision making. Offering a program
that shares all three with those who have never had access is a step towards equity.

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References
Adams, M. (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Bortz, D. (2012, October 9). Why most high schoolers don't know how to manage their money.
Retrieved July 17, 2016, from http://money.usnews.com/money/personalfinance/articles/2012/10/09/why-most-high-schoolers-dont-know-how-to-manage-theirmoney
Cornwell, E. Y., & Cornwell, B. (2008). Access to expertise as a form of social capital: An
examination of race- and class-based disparities in network ties to experts. Sociological
Perspectives, 51(4), 853-876.
Financial Literacy Choice & Awareness Campaign (2016). Retrieved July 17, 2016, from
http://www.congressofracialequality.org/financial-literacy.html
Henricks, K. (2016). Who plays? Who pays?: Education finance policy that supplants tax
burdens along lines of race and class. Race, Ethnicity & Education, 19(2), 274-299.
doi:10.1080/13613324.2013.868343
Klugman, J. (2013). The advanced placement arms race and the reproduction of educational
inequality. Teachers College Record, 115(5), 1-34.
Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2008). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural
education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Rogalsky, J. (2009). Mythbusters: Dispelling the culture of poverty myth in the urban
classroom. Journal of Geography, 108 (4-5), 198-209. Doi:10.1080/00221340903344953

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van Gelder, S. (2012). How Occupy Wall Street changes everything. In M. Adams
(Ed.), Readings for Diversity and Social Justice (3rd ed., pp. 212-216). New York, NY:
Routledge. (This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement,
(2012), 1-13)
Young, I.M. (1990). Five faces of oppression. In M. Adams (Ed.), Readings for Diversity and
Social Justice (3rd ed., pp. 35-45). New York, NY: Routledge. (Justice and the Politics of
Difference, (1990), 39-65)