Not just for children

Although the Alliance for Investor Education hopes that many teachers will gravitate to its newly released resource list of financial-education websites for children, the market downturn may also drive some adults “back to school.” “Interest from the public has increased since the global economic meltdown,” said Don M. Blandin, president and chief executive of Investor Protection Trust, an organization that is a member of the Alliance for Investor Education. The alliance, a group of 21 foundations, non-profit organizations and government agencies related to the financial services industry, recently launched a page on its website listing financial-education resources for school-age children. The page, Back to School: Investor Education in the Classroom, highlights 10 of the “best web-based resources” for educating children. Some of the resources include: The Stock Market Game, offered by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Foundation for Investor Education; Savings Tips for Kids and Money, from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the American Savings Education Council; Just for Teachers, on the Securities and Exchange Commission website, and FSI: Fraud Scene Investigator, offered by the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc. Members of the alliance nominated resources for the site, and the full membership approved the list, Mr. Blandin said. The websites focus mainly on elementary- and high-school-age children. “You can teach basic money concepts to young people at a very early age,” Mr. Blandin said. There is a growing interest among adults for the information as evidenced by the volume of letters, e-mails and phone calls, he said. Many adults request educational materials to share with others, such as investment clubs. “Regardless of your age, it's an opportunity to go back to school, where people feel they can learn something now so that going forward, they will make better decisions,” Mr. Blandin said.