As we celebrate what GFLEC and our partners accomplished this year to elevate financial literacy around the world, we are especially proud of 10 milestones we reached. In 2022, we:
1. Doubled our efforts to inform policy makers and to promote policy changes that can improve financial well-being around the world. GFLEC presented at several high-profile gatherings, including events organized by the United Nations, the OECD, the International Monetary Fund, Bruegel, and the European Parliament. In parallel, we launched the Financial Education Works campaign based on our research work. And we continued to promote financial education in school globally, including in my native Italy, where I direct the Financial Education Committee.
2. Won four prizes for our research. We are honored to have our work recognized by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) Impact Award, the Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards (MAIA) for Best Academic Paper, the Pearson Award for the Best Paper Published in Financial Management, and the Kulp-Wright Book Award for Remaking Retirement: Debt in an Aging Economy.
3. Were included in the 2022 Clarivate list, which recognizes exceptional research influence, demonstrated by multiple papers that rank in the top 1% by citations in the field of Economics and Business. I am honored to appear on this list for the third time.
4. Published new research in a top journal. “Evaluating Deliberative Competence: A Simple Method with an Application to Financial Choice,” written with Sandro Ambuehl and B. Douglas Bernheim, was published in the American Economic Review in November 2022.
5. Co-organized the first Teaching Personal Finance Conference at Stanford University, in partnership with Stanford Professors Michael J. Boskin and John Shoven. This conference brought together personal finance and financial literacy instructors from across U.S. institutions.
6. Started the Journal of Financial Literacy and Wellbeing. I am the inaugural editor of this new academic journal. Together with the OECD, we submitted a proposal to Cambridge University Press, which will publish the new journal starting in 2023.
7. Promoted new research and supported the next generation of researchers. The Cherry Blossom Financial Education Institute at GW in Washington, D.C., the Asia Pacific Financial Education Institute at Singapore Management University, and the Financial Literacy Seminar Series, joint with the Board of Governors, all served to advance research in the field of financial literacy.
8. Strengthened the G53 Financial Literacy and Personal Finance Research Network (G53 Network). This new network saw more working papers, the launch of its own Brown Bag Lunch series, and plans for an academic conference in 2023.
9. Released new reports, including the main findings from the sixth wave of the TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) and research done with Edelman Financial Engines for the “Fast Track to Financial Health” initiative deployed at a Fortune 25 company.
10. Expanded our reach by giving keynote addresses at many conferences and leveraging our Connecting to Reimagine Webinar Series—including a live session from Singapore—and news coverage, with mentions of GFLEC in more than 150 media outlets around the world.
We are proud of this progress, but we also know how much more must be done with research-based solutions to close financial literacy and well-being gaps. Our goals are ambitious, but they are also achievable—with your help.
Accelerate our impact
As organizations and individuals plan their year-end gifts, they are looking at ways to make an impact. Please consider a tax-deductible gift to support our work. GFLEC is self-funded, which means that we rely on the generosity of individuals and institutions to propel our research and the solutions that emerge from our findings. Your generosity can help change lives around the world.