Cherry Blossom Financial Education Institute
The 2025 Stanford Financial Education Symposium — formerly known as the Cherry Blossom Financial Education Institute — was held on April 10–11, 2025. Researchers from around the world gathered at Stanford University to present their work.
We thank the Initiative for Financial Decision-Making (IFDM) at Stanford University for hosting the event and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) for their support and for sponsoring both the Financial Literacy Research Award and the Rising Financial Literacy Scholar Award.
Joshua Caraballo, National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE)
Annamaria Lusardi, Initiative for Financial Decision-Making (IFDM), Stanford University
Session Chair: Annamaria Lusardi, Initiative for Financial Decision-Making (IFDM), Stanford University
Hanno Lustig, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Financial and Total Wealth Inequality with Declining Interest Rates
Paper | Presentation
Session Chair: Gary Mottola, FINRA Investor Education Foundation
Miguel Ferreira, Nova School of Business and Economics
Finance for All: Experimental Evidence of a Financial Literacy Program
Presentation
Daniel Mangrum, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Financial Education and Household Financial Decisions during the Pandemic
Paper | Presentation
Luis Castellaños, The World Bank
Financial Literacy and Economic Decision-Making in an Inflationary Context: Evidence from Colombia
Paper | Presentation
Session Chair: Hakan Ozyilmaz, Initiative for Financial Decision-Making
Cindy Zhu, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Do Government-provided Free Tax Services Promote Public Financial Literacy? The Impact of Taxpayer Assistance Centers on EITC Claims
Presentation
Paul Freed, Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
Financial Literacy and Financial Crime: A Regression Discontinuity Approach
Paper | Presentation
Siun Lee, Texas A&M University
When Groups Make Us More Myopic: Implications for Financial Education Program
Paper | Presentation
Session Chair: Greg Buchak, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Tim de Silva, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
Selection Inattention
Presentation
Matteo Benetton, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Celebrity Persuasion
Paper | Presentation
Session Chair: Annamaria Lusardi, Initiative for Financial Decision-Making (IFDM), Stanford University
Michael Boskin, Department of Economics, Stanford University; Hoover Institution
Patricia M. Kelly, University of California, Santa Cruz
Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Presenter: Benjamin Keys, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Neale Mahoney, Department of Economics, Stanford University; Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
John Shoven, Department of Economics, Stanford University; Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
Session Chair: Jason Seligman, Investment Company Institute
Alexander Michaelides, Imperial College Business School
Trust and Investment Loss: Evidence from UK Financial Corporate Failures
Paper | Presentation
Maya Haran Rosen, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the Bank of Israel
Trust, Financial Literacy, and Financial Behavior Driving Retirement Security
Presentation
Session Chair: Andrew Elgin, United States Military Academy at West Point
Guglielmo Briscese, University of Chicago
The Role of Parental Beliefs, Financial Literacy, and Public Policies in Financing Higher Education: An Experimental Study
Paper | Presentation
Sheisha Kulkarni, University of Virginia
Search and Negotiation with Biased Beliefs in Consumer Credit Markets
Session Chair: Bozidar Plavsic, Initiative for Financial Decision-Making
Jing Xian Ng, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Credit When You Need It
Paper | Presentation
Valerie Boctor, University of California, Berkeley
Mortgage Forbearance and Financial Distress in the Long Run
Paper | Presentation
Ricardo Pommer Muñoz, Columbia University
Information Frictions and the Market for Climate Adaptation
Paper
Session Chair: Tim Kaiser, University of Kaiserslautern-Landa; Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
Irina Gemmo, HEC Montreal
Determinants and Life-Cycle Effects of Survival Ambiguity
Presentation
Riccardo Calcagno, Polytechnic University of Turin
Financial Literacy, Shocks Realization, and Macroeconomic Outcomes
Paper | Presentation
Venoo Kakar, San Francisco State University
Financial Literacy Blind Spots and Financial Preparedness Among College Students
Presentation
J. Michael Dedmon, National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE)
Annamaria Lusardi, Initiative for Financial Decision-Making (IFDM), Stanford University