Money IN/Money OUT SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING MATERIALS

[Sample text for promoting MI/MO to employers]

Money IN/Money OUT

How to Reduce Your Debt and Increase Your Savings

Money IN/Money OUT is a six session workshop developed by the North Carolina Cooperative Edtension Service for employers to sponsor for their employees. You are being asked to consider making this valuable 'how-to' workshop on basic money management available to your employees at lunch time, before- or after-work, or on released time. Ideally, each session should be about one hour in length, but can be modified to 30-45 minutes.

This program was created because recent studies document these findings:

• Workers who are facing financial difficulties are not as productive as their co-workers, with an estimated 15percent of workers falling into this category -- costing employers in large organizations an estimated $600 per worker per year in lost productivity
• Consumer credit use in the U.S. is at an all time high (topping 1 trillion dollars in 1996 and still rising), and so are bankruptcies(topping 1 million in 1996 and also still rising)
• Personal savings of U.S. households were actually at a negative level in 2000;
• Twenty percent of U.S. workers have absolutely no money in any kind of saving or investment vehicle, and another thirteen percent have only $1,000-9,000 saved
• Effective financial education programs for employees increase company earnings though:
  • reduced absenteeism
    
  • reduced fear from financial insecurity
    
  • increased ability to concentrate
    
  • higher levels of energy on the job
    
  • improved employee morale

While some employees are concerned about specific financial issues such as aging parents, illness of a family member, or lack of preparation for imminent retirement, the Money IN/Money OUT workshop is designed for a somewhat younger audience in need of information and motivation on basic money management.

THE CASE FOR FINANCIAL EDUCATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Many employees are not conscious of the trade-offs they are making with their everyday financial decisions, nor what the impacts can be when they do not understand the basic financial principles of cash flow and time value of money, nor how these concepts relate to their lives. Education on basic money management is the essential foundation for subsequent training on long-range financial planning to assure future financial security. An effective financial education program can:

• fufill regulatory requirements (ERISA and others)
• increase employee productivity
• enhance the sponsoring employer
• promote self-reliance among participating employees

Personal finance topics most often requested by employees include setting goals and managing cash flow (basic money management), risk management, taxes, savings, retirement, college planing, long- term care, and estate planning issues (long-range financial planning). This workshop focuses on the first two topics. Cooperative Extension plans to offer workshops in the future for employees who understand and already practice debt control and regular saving, and are ready to address long-range planning.

ROLE OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
Cooperative Extension is a national resource of tax-supported, experienced educators -- field faculty of North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University -- who can help employers organize, deliver and evaluate personal finance employee eductation programs.
In your county, the Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Education programs on personal finance is:




The Cooperative Extension Center in your county is located at:



A statewide test of the new Money IN/Money OUT curriculum was conducted between October 1998 and March 1999, when the decision was made to expand the course from four to six lessons. The revised curriculum was introduced to Family & Consumer Education Agents in April 2000, and is being used across the state to help employers deliver essential information at the worksite. We invite you to make these valuable lessons available to your employees, which will also help us evaluate and strengthen the program for expanded use.

_{North Carolina State University
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Family & Consumer Sciences Department}