Press Releases

For Immediate Release
April 150, 2009	Contact: Charles Evenson 608-266-2026

DFI Supports Your Money Bus Tour Financial Literacy Campaign

(Madison) DFI is supporting a national financial literacy campaign created by three financial industry leaders. The Your Money Bus Tour will make stops in Wausau, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine next week as part of its effort to reach out to consumers coast-to-coast with free financial education.

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) Consumer Education Foundation, TD Ameritrade Institutional and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine are collaborating on the Your Money Bus Tour. The tour promotes the message that it is never too late to start taking steps to prepare for a secure financial future.

“This tour offers an opportunity to gain financial knowledge and to learn how to use your own money wisely. Now is a good time to get started,” said DFI Secretary Lorrie Heinemann who serves as chair of Governor Doyle’s Council on Financial Literacy. First Lady Jessica Doyle serves as Honorary Chair.

The complimentary advice will come from volunteer, independent registered investment advisors. The tour’s goal is to help consumers deal with an increasingly unstable economy, rising unemployment rates and home foreclosures. Consumers may bring financial questions and will be able to chat one-on-one with a financial advisor to get answers. Information on debt reduction and saving will be available.

The tour schedule is as follows:

• Wausau, Monday, April 20, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. – at North Central Technical College (NCTC) in Room E102 (1000 W. Campus Drive, Wausau, WI). Volunteers from the Get Smart Wausau Coalition will present a related bonus event on April 27 at 6:00 p.m. at NCTC. It is a forum called “Surviving a Financial Crisis.”
• Madison, Tuesday, April 21, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. – at Madison Public Library in Room #202 (201 W. Mifflin St., Madison, WI).
• Milwaukee, Wednesday, April 22, 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. – at Pettit National Ice Center & Olympic Training Facility, (500 South 84th St., West Allis, WI) (Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is expected to visit at 9:30 a.m.) and there also will be free Personal Financial Sustainability seminars at noon and 12:30 p.m.
• Racine, Wednesday, April 22, 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – at Financial Service Group, (4812 Northwestern Avenue, Racine, WI).

DFI promotes financial literacy across Wisconsin through its Office of Financial Literacy that Harvard University recently named to its 2009 list of Top 50 Innovations in Government. The OFL works on a number of initiatives including:

• Money Smart Week Wisconsin, October 10-17, 2009 a statewide financial literacy campaign that offers free programs and activities across the state (www.moneysmartwi.org)
• National Institute of Financial and Economic Literacy designated “a best practice for teacher training” by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, that shows educators how to teach their students about personal finance. Registration form is available at www.wdfi.org.
• The Money Conference, a one-day program that provides financial education for families and that will be presented in each of the Your Money Bus Tour communities in 2009
  • Milwaukee, Saturday, April 25, Business and Economics Academy of Milwaukee from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  • Madison, Saturday, August 15 (Location to be announced)
  • Wausau, Saturday, October 3 (Location to be announced)
  • Racine/Kenosha, Saturday, November 21 (Location to be announced)

For more information about the Your Money Bus Tour and other financial literacy, initiatives please contact David Mancl, Director of DFI’s Office of Financial Literacy at 608-261-9540 or email him at david.mancl@wisconsin.gov.