A $200,000 grant has been granted to conduct a study amongWisconsin's credit unions that aims to prove that financialeducation can motivate members to use investment tools to buildwealth.

The study is expected to last 18 months and will provide as muchas 30,000 hours of online investment education to 4,000participating employees, starting with those at credit unions.Employees will complete up to ten hours of online learning, receiveadditional information about investment products and opportunitiesand have access to an educational coach.

The grant is from the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofitorganization devoted to investor education. The Wisconsin CreditUnion League, Gov. Jim Doyle's Council on Financial Literacy andthe Wisconsin Department of FinancialInstitutions will handle the coordination and promotionefforts. John Hoffmire, director with the Puelicher Center forBanking Education at the Wisconsin School of Business, University ofWisconsin-Madison, is spearheading the study.

Pre- and post-tests will measure participants' investmentknowledge, and behavior will be tracked quarterly during thefollowing year to determine whether participants have initiatedinvestment activity. Credit unions' participation in the study ispart of the ongoing REAL Solutionsinitiative.