Stanford Launches Initiative for Financial Decision-Making
Charles R. “Chuck” Schwab, MBA ’61 | Courtesy of the Charles Schwab Corporation
A bold new program will combine education, research, and technology to build the future of personal finance education.
Millions of people struggle with managing their personal finances. They pay too much to borrow, have little or no safety net, and plan poorly for their financial futures. A new multidisciplinary initiative at Stanford aims to change that by making financial education available on a massive scale.
Launched in September 2024, the Initiative for Financial Decision-Making is a collaboration among Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), and the Stanford Department of Economics in the School of Humanities and Sciences. It’s made possible by a generous gift from Helen and Charles R. “Chuck” Schwab, ’59, MBA ’61, and the Charles R. Schwab Foundation for Financial Freedom.
“More than ever, we need people to be financially secure and resilient,” said Annamaria Lusardi, who serves as faculty director of the initiative. “A safe financial future should be within reach of everyone, everywhere.”
Lusardi’s pioneering work has spotlighted the widespread lack of financial knowledge and has influenced policy and programs aimed at improving financial education. The set of questions she designed for assessing individual financial knowledge is now the global standard.
The new Initiative for Financial Decision-Making is built around four strategic pillars:
Designing and delivering state-of-the-art personal finance education programs, starting with Stanford students and then gradually expanding nationally and internationally.
Using technology to expand access to financial education resources.
Harnessing strategic partnerships, communication campaigns, and engagement with decision-makers to influence programs and policy.
Building the field of personal finance education by reinforcing a rigorous theoretical and empirical foundation and nurturing the next generation of researchers.
The initiative builds upon Introduction to Financial Decision-Making, a popular undergraduate course co-taught by Lusardi and economist Michael Boskin. It also complements Mind Over Money, Stanford’s student services program that provides financial wellness resources.
Read the full, original story to learn more about the new Initiative for Financial Decision-Making.
