Indiana State University Newsroom

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Financial illiteracy is becoming widely recognized as a fundamental problem in the United States. As many as 40 million Americans do not use mainstream banking services, and only 27 percent of adults feel well informed about managing their own household finances.

These statistics seem unrealistic for the 21st century, but if this is the state of the problem, then how are we to arrive at a solution? Indiana State University's Networks Financial Institute is bringing together a national panel of experts March 28 to discuss the state of adult financial literacy in the U.S. today as part of its ongoing Financial Forum Series.

The event, which will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis (121 Monument Circle), is one of many that have been presented this year.

Keynote speaker for the forum will be Paul Solman, business and economics correspondent with The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. He will discuss "Financial Literacy: How to Save Safely for an Uncertain Future."

Experts throughout the day-long conference will discuss issues such as:
- What every adult should know or be able to do to consider himself or herself financially literate and able to make sound financial decisions;
- What people know about the financial requirements of daily life, financial services opportunities and how to make effective decisions;
- How standards are changing;
- What the role of our educational institutions is in making students and young adults literate; and
- Whether or not better regulation is needed.

Panelists and presenters will include, among others: Zvi Bodie, professor of finance and economics at Boston University; John Caskey, professor of economics at Swarthmore College; Robert DeYoung, associate director of insurance and research for the bank research and regulatory policy groups at the FDIC in Washington, D.C.; Gregory Elliehausen, senior research scholar at the Credit Research Center at Georgetown University; Mark Flannery, an Eminent Scholar Chair in finance at the University of Florida; Robert Lerman, professor of economics at American University and a senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC.; Anna Maria Lusardi, an associate professor of economics at Dartmouth College; and Lewis Mandell, professor of finance and managerial economics and former dean of the School of Management at State University of New York, Buffalo; and Katherine Samolyk, a senior economist in the division of insurance and research at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

For more information or to register, visit the NFI Web site at www.isunetworks.org or call 1-800-603-7113.

CONTACT: Alison Palmer, director of communications, ISU's Networks Financial Institute, 1-800-603-7113 or alison.palmer@isunetworks.org.

WRITER: Maria Greninger, associate director, Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, (812) 237-4357 or m-greninger@indstate.edu