About the Financial Literacy Center

The mission of the Financial Literacy Center is to develop and test innovative programs to improve financial literacy and promote informed financial decisionmaking.

With support from the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Financial Literacy Center was launched in October 2009 by the RAND Corporation, Dartmouth College, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The Center is an innovative, non-partisan multidisciplinary research and development (R&D) initiative to develop products to better inform the public about key financial literacy topics related to retirement savings and planning.

The center is hosted by RAND and led by Director Annamaria Lusardi of Dartmouth College and RAND; Associate Director Olivia S. Mitchell of the Wharton School; and Associate Director Arie Kapteyn of RAND, all of whom have international reputations for their work on financial literacy.

In addition to researchers from RAND, Dartmouth, and the Wharton School, the Center includes experts from the American Enterprise Institute, Cornell University, Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund, Greenwald & Associates, Harvard University, Harvard Business School, ideas42, and North Carolina State University. Other partners include FINRA Investor Education Foundation, the National Endowment for Financial Education, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and AARP.

The educational materials developed by the Center will be innovative, targeted, and tested for their effectiveness. Research teams will tailor materials for Americans at various stages of their working lives—young workers, mid-career workers, and those approaching retirement—as well as current retirees who must manage the resources they have accumulated. The research teams will also develop financial literacy products for underserved populations, such as low-income, young, and disabled workers, all of whom are particularly vulnerable during periods of financial turbulence.

Center History

Financial Literacy Center opens online — Mar. 16, 2010

Financial literacy: A call to action — 2009

Tuck professor appointed marketing director for financial literacy center — Nov. 6, 2009

Dartmouth economics professor to direct new financial literacy center — Oct. 20, 2009

Our new financial literacy center — Oct. 8, 2009

RAND launches new financial literacy center with Dartmouth College and the Wharton School — Oct. 7, 2009