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Financial Education
Knowledge is your greatest asset. SM
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Highlights
Citigroup Financial Education Program
 
Highlights for June 2005
 
UNITED STATES
 
Kentucky Joint Committee on Banking and Insurance
  • June 8th in Florence, Citigroup hosted the Kentucky Joint Committee on Banking and Insurance. Thirty-seven Kentucky legislators attended, including the Speaker of the House, Jody Richards.
  • Gregg Morton, Site President, opened the program with an overview of Citigroup, a history of the site and a pledge of Citi's commitment to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, specifically in education. Dara Duguay, Director of Citigroup’s Office of Financial Education, discussed Citigroup’s commitment to financial education and Ronni Burns delivered a presentation on Identity Theft, Citi’s best practices and how to protect oneself.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
  • June 21st in Dallas, Dara Duguay, Director of Citigroup’s Office of Financial Education, delivered the opening keynote presentation on “Striving to Become Financially Fit” at a conference hosted by The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Texas Council on Economic Education. The conference is part of a series that will be offered in El Paso, Houston and San Antonio.
  • “Where Did My Money Go?: Making Money, Spending It and Keeping It” was attended by high school educators interested in incorporating personal finance education into their classrooms. Workshops focused on money in the form of income, how personal choices affect future income, and the difference between the money we make and the money we keep. Conference sessions also included ideas for classroom activities.
  • Other presenters included Bettye Banks, Senior Vice President for Education at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas, Sherry Kiser, Director of Economic Education at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, W. Michael Cox, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Tim Shaunty, President of the Texas Council on Economic Education.
2nd ANNUAL CITI/SCHOLASTIC NATIONAL ESSAY CONTEST
  • June 21st in New York, Jeff Schumacher, Senior Vice President, Citi Cards, and and Shelley White, Editorial Director of Scholastic, announced the winners of the second annual Citi/Scholastic National Essay Contest. A joint effort between Citi’s Credit-ED Program and Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, the essay contest requires high-school students put their writing and money management skills into practice for a chance to win one of seventeen college scholarships. Additionally, $10,500 is awarded to the winners’ teachers.
  • This year, nearly 5,000 11th and 12th graders submitted a 500-word entry answering the following personal finance question: “In what ways does money and the act of saving money present a challenge to today’s youth?” Grand Prize Winners each received a $15,000 scholarship check for college tuition. Second-prize winners each received a $1,500 scholarship check and third-prize winners each received a $200 scholarship check.
  • The Citi/Scholastic National Essay Contest is a component of a free in-class curriculum that was distributed this spring to over 7,000 high schools nationwide, reaching over 1.3 million college-bound students and 15,000 educators. Since its inception in 2000, Citi’s Credit-ED Program has distributed over 1 million credit education materials for free to students, administrators and parents.
Citi and Scholastic sought out experts, students’ favorite stars, and politicians to ask them the same question posed to the students: "In what ways does money and the act of saving money present a challenge to today’s youth?" Below are some of the responses received to date.
(also available at www.scholastic.com/collegesuccess)

"As Benjamin Franklin so sagely wrote two centuries ago, 'A penny saved is a penny earned.' But as a nation, we have not heeded his advice and we now have an historically low savings rate. So today's children may not have the role models they need to understand the importance of saving money for their future. That's why schools can play such a unique role in teaching children about the importance of savings and they have a captive audience - for example, they can integrate simple economic lessons in mathematics classes. A teacher can hold a child's attention by breaking through the clutter of the outside world -- the high-speed, interconnected, I-Pod-loving, 24-7 media-rich world in which today's children live. If we want our nation to stay at the economic forefront of the world, our schools must help teach our future leaders the value of saving money." - U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
 
"The value of a dollar to today's youth has no impact on the value of saving for tomorrow's growth." - Rachel Bilson, actress, Fox's "The O.C."
 
"Our young people face complex challenges: high-appeal marketing for the latest and newest products…and inadequate economic literacy to make good financial decisions. Why save a dollar here and there over time for the thing you want when you can have it today…The power of compound interest for savings doesn't enter their minds, nor does the harm of compound interest and bank fees - not until a while after purchase. We must simply do more to encourage financial wisdom among our youth, and it must happen at home, in schools, at the mall, online, and in the media - every possible kid- and teen-friendly venue." - Senator Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii
 
“Today’s uncertainties create a need for young Americans to save more - starting now. And good saving habits encourage building wealth for the future.” - R. Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia School of Business

 
2005 NBA Draft Family Seminar
  • June 27th in New York, Nathaniel "Trae" H. Byrd, III, Vice President, Citigroup Private Bank, delivered a presentation entitled "The Reality of an NBA paycheck" to the first round draft picks of the 2005 NBA Draft. There were 15 players and their families in attendance as well as top executives from the NBA. His presentation identified and addressed the unique experiences and challenges NBA rookies encounter during their first year in the league and recommended some best practices to assist them in maximizing their experience.
  • Topics covered included the importance of saving, using credit wisely, making investment decisions, the importance of asset allocation, establishing a budget, choosing a financial advisor, and setting realistic purchase expectations.
FINANCIAL EDUCATION TRAINING
 
To date, more than 1,928 employees and
non-profit partner staff have undergone training
to teach financial education using the Citigroup Financial Education curriculum.
 
1,018 people have participated in the online training since the April launch of the site.

 
Governors Institute on Personal Finance
  • June 23 in Bethlehem, PA, Stacey Sechrest Carder, Deputy Director of Citigroup’s Office of Financial Education, discussed opportunities for integrating personal finance into the classroom curriculum and presented the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum to approximately 80 educators attending the Governors Institute on Personal Finance.
Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club
  • June 6th in St. Louis, eleven CitiMortgage and Citi Home Equity Management Associates (MAs) completed a ten-week training program at the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club. Using the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum, MAs taught twenty high school students lessons on basic banking, saving, investing, and credit. The program began March 28th.
INTERNATIONAL
 
JA WORLDWIDE
  • June 17th in London, Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi, Citigroup CEO for GTS, and Daria Sheehan, Vice President of the Citigroup Foundation, announced a grant in excess of $2.7 million, payable over three years, from the Citigroup Foundation to JA Worldwide for the redesign and global expansion of the Banks in Action program. David S. Chernow, President and CEO of JA Worldwide accepted the check.
  • On June 20th, Citigroup and JA Worldwide announced the grant in press releases issued in the US, Japan, Mexico, 31 countries in EMEA, and 17 countries in Latin America.
  • Reaching more than 26,000 students in 26 countries to date, the Banks in Action program teaches young people the principles of the banking industry and exposes them to the challenges of successfully operating a bank in a competitive environment through hands-on classroom activities and local, regional, and national competitions.
  • The redesigned program will be piloted in 18 countries in early 2006 with a full global launch in many new countries, including the United States, scheduled for summer 2006. Updated and redesigned jointly by JA Worldwide and Citigroup, the new version will feature a CD-ROM, classroom materials, curricula, and an online banking simulation. JA Worldwide’s goal is to increase student participation in the new program by 25 percent in the first year of implementation.
EMEA
 
Greece
 
“Economy: Knowledge with Value”
  • On June 29th in Athens, Chris Vassiliades, Business Manager of Citibank Consumer Group Greece, announced the completion of the first year of “Economy Classes,” Citibank and the Citigroup Foundation’s financial education program. The program, one of the first financial education programs in Greece, reached 10,000 elementary school children through 400 financial education sessions. The program is supported by a €100,000 grant from Citigroup and the Citigroup Foundation, and was designed and implemented by the Hellenic Children's Museum classes with the approval of the Ministry of Education and the Pedagogic Institute.
  • Three educational programs were designed for students in first through sixth grades. Specialized "performers-educators" of the Hellenic Children's Museum taught sessions on basic economic concepts, including the difference between "wants” and “needs," market functions, the relationship between advertising and the market, and consumers and businesses. Older children learned about topics such as poverty and unemployment, saving, Social Welfare, the role of the European Union and the importance of the cooperation between different countries.
  • More than two hundred Citibank staff members, including top executives, volunteered in school classes for the program. Now, the goal is to expand the program in the next few years to all educational levels, as well as to more specialized audiences.
Asia Pacific
 
Hong Kong
 
Citibank Study of Asian Investor Psychology
  • June 29th in Hong Kong, Citibank released the results of "The Emotion Behind Investing: A Citibank Study of Asian Investor Psychology." The groundbreaking report, the first study of its kind in Asia Pacific, examines investment behavior among Asians and provides a comparative analysis against US investor trends (based on other independent third-party journals). The report was prepared by Professor Anil Gaba, Professor of Decision Sciences and Dean of Faculty and Research at INSEAD's Asia campus, Pierre Hillion, INSEAD’s Professor of Finance, and Klaus Wertenbroch, INSEAD’s Associate Professor of Marketing.
  • Key findings included that when it comes to money and investing, Asians can be overconfident, highly averse to loss and allow fear of regret to impact their investment decisions. A significant number of investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan make financial decisions using their emotions, rather than relying on logical decision-making.
  • Over 2,500 respondents across the three countries participated in the survey, collectively sponsored by Citibank, N.A., Citigroup Asset Management, Alliance Capital Management, and Permal.
Malaysia
 
Making $ense of Money
  • June 22nd in Malaysia, Yvonne Chan, Citigroup Country Corporate Affairs Head, announced the launch of Making $ense of Money, its pilot Financial Education Initiative for Secondary Schools, in 50 selected secondary schools in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor. The program, aimed at providing students with an understanding of the basic principles of managing expenses and savings, and achieving investment goals, is expected to reach 10,000 students. The program was funded by a grant from the Citigroup Foundation.
  • June 22nd in Kuala Lumpur, 40 Citigroup Volunteers conducted a workshop for over 3,000 16-year olds in 18 schools. June 29th in Penang, 26 Citigroup employees volunteered to teach the program in 13 schools. Upcoming classes are planned in Penang and Johor in July.
  • “Making $ense of Money” was a book written by two National University Singapore professors Dr. Fong Wai Mun and Dr Chng Peng Lui, and has been locally adapted and translated to suit the needs of students. A CD-ROM is also included to complement key lessons, such as cash flow analysis, budgeting and savings.