Dr. Stephanie Moulton develops online financial health check-up tool
A new, free online financial self-assessment tool made available by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) is based on work done in part by Glenn School Professor, Stephanie Moulton. The MyMoneyCheckUp tool, available at nfcc.org or MyMoneyCheckUp.org, is designed to provide an assessment of a consumer's overall financial health and behavior in four areas of personal finance: budgeting and credit management, saving and investing, planning for retirement, and managing home equity. In the first week it became available, more than 550 consumers made use of the tool, many of whom provided feedback saying the tool helped them identify potential areas of concern with their finances.
The tool was originally developed as part of a research project funded by OSU Outreach and Engagement and the Social Security Administration’s Financial Literacy Research Consortium, administered through the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Financial Security. Moulton serves as the principal investigator, with three other researchers involved, including Cäzilia Loibl, an Ohio State University Extension specialist in family finances and associate professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology's Department of Consumer Sciences. Other researchers are J. Michael Collins of the University of Wisconsin and Anya Savikhin of the University of Chicago. To use the tool, consumers input information about their income, savings and debts. The tool identifies potential areas to improve — such as automating savings deposits, a method that previous research has shown to increase a person's savings — and makes suggestions about where to find reliable information. The tool should take about 20 minutes to complete.
Moulton and her team of researchers were compelled to create MyMoneyCheckUp.com while working on a project to evaluate the effectiveness of financial education and counseling for first time homebuyers. “We needed a tool that would allow us to track the improvement in an individual’s financial health over time,” says Moulton. “While we found tools specific to a particular area of financial health (like retirement), we could not find a tool that provided a picture of overall financial health. So, we decided to develop a financial health check-up tool ourselves, pulling together focus groups of experts in the field.” Along with talented collaborators and excellent partners, such as the NFCC, Moulton identifies the support of the Glenn School as a key factor in the project’s success.
“The John Glenn School has provided ongoing support to me as I have pursued research that has both scholarly and practical implications. I appreciate the focus of the school on service to the community, in addition to topnotch research and teaching. The school encouraged faculty to apply for Outreach and Engagement funding, and to pursue opportunities that allow us to bring our research to bear on real world challenges”
In regards to future endeavors, Moulton says to “stay tuned”. The results of the evaluation of financial education for homebuyers, using the tool, will be released in the summer of 2012.With regard to the tool itself, Mouton’s team and the NFCC continue to fine-tune questions and the scoring methodology. Moulton notes: “It is still a work in progress, but we are excited by its potential and the energy it is generating.”
The tool was originally developed as part of a research project funded by OSU Outreach and Engagement and the Social Security Administration’s Financial Literacy Research Consortium, administered through the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Financial Security. Moulton serves as the principal investigator, with three other researchers involved, including Cäzilia Loibl, an Ohio State University Extension specialist in family finances and associate professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology's Department of Consumer Sciences. Other researchers are J. Michael Collins of the University of Wisconsin and Anya Savikhin of the University of Chicago. To use the tool, consumers input information about their income, savings and debts. The tool identifies potential areas to improve — such as automating savings deposits, a method that previous research has shown to increase a person's savings — and makes suggestions about where to find reliable information. The tool should take about 20 minutes to complete.
Moulton and her team of researchers were compelled to create MyMoneyCheckUp.com while working on a project to evaluate the effectiveness of financial education and counseling for first time homebuyers. “We needed a tool that would allow us to track the improvement in an individual’s financial health over time,” says Moulton. “While we found tools specific to a particular area of financial health (like retirement), we could not find a tool that provided a picture of overall financial health. So, we decided to develop a financial health check-up tool ourselves, pulling together focus groups of experts in the field.” Along with talented collaborators and excellent partners, such as the NFCC, Moulton identifies the support of the Glenn School as a key factor in the project’s success.
“The John Glenn School has provided ongoing support to me as I have pursued research that has both scholarly and practical implications. I appreciate the focus of the school on service to the community, in addition to topnotch research and teaching. The school encouraged faculty to apply for Outreach and Engagement funding, and to pursue opportunities that allow us to bring our research to bear on real world challenges”
In regards to future endeavors, Moulton says to “stay tuned”. The results of the evaluation of financial education for homebuyers, using the tool, will be released in the summer of 2012.With regard to the tool itself, Mouton’s team and the NFCC continue to fine-tune questions and the scoring methodology. Moulton notes: “It is still a work in progress, but we are excited by its potential and the energy it is generating.”
