The underserved and poor individuals who may find it hard to save for retirement will receive help through an investment project from the Wisconsin Credit Union League.
Last fall, the league launched REAL Progress and Pathways to Prosperity, which provided online training to 3,520 employees from 80 credit unions to learn about investing concepts including setting goals, distinguishing among investment vehicles, managing risk, diversifying a portfolio, maximizing tax advantages, understanding mutual funds and working with investment professionals.
The next phase involves pairing up to 25 CU employees with 100 financially underserved or low-wealth individuals so they can turn modest contributions to investment accounts into significant assets, the league said. The employees will receive additional training beyond the online basic investor education they've already completed.
"Most Americans haven't done any retirement planning," said Brett Thompson, president/CEO of the Wisconsin league. "But we can't afford to let the failure of entire generations to plan for their futures become a public burden. So we can't afford to let the average citizen-those who live paycheck to paycheck-think they can't become successful investors."
The investor education project will continue through early 2011.
