I stumbled upon this recent webinar from the Center for Financial Inclusion titled “A Change in Behavior:”

Starting at (11:44 – 16:46) in the webinar, they identify the 7 behaviorally informed practices that you might want to incorporate into your practices. These practices were identified after they canvassed the globe looking for innovations in financial capability.

The practices they identified are:

• Teachable moments
• Learning by doing
• Nudges, reminders and default options
• Rules of thumb
• Make it fun
• Customize it
• Make it social

For me this was a useful reminder of what should be included in lessons, activities and projects that we create to engage our students. Behavioral finance research has come a long way in identifying the behavioral elements that lurk behind our financial decisions. We need to make sure we are using what has been learned and incorporating it into our curriculum.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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