Money Smart Week Comes to Indiana; Educate Yourself on Financial Matters

 
 
At a time when many Americans have more questions than answers regarding financial matters, a campaign called “Money Smart Week” comes to Indiana this week, spearheaded by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Martha Henn, Indiana’s Money Smart Week chair, said more than 100 events will take place across the state to cover a variety of topics from simple budgeting to having enough insurance, even understanding Social Security benefits.

“A lot of social services providers, neighborhood centers, youth groups, churches and so forth, will reach out to their populations to do some good financial education,” said Henn.

Go to moneysmartweek.org and click on “find an event” to view activities scheduled throughout Indiana.

Meanwhile, Patrick Calkins, the state’s director of Adult Protective Servics, said Indiana’s elderly population is at great risk of being victimized by unscrupulous people. He said Money Smart Week is a great idea to prevent them from being scammed.

“Over the last decade,” Calkins said, “instances of abuse and neglect have grown at about the same rate as the elder population has grown – approximately 12 percent. During the same decade, instances of financial exploitation have grown by 80 percent.”

Calkins said that sadly, the average financial exploitation loss is $30,000, and the perpetrators are often family members.

At the Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox, a representative of the CFE Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will discuss the resources available when researching investment decisions on Tuesday from 10 to 11 a.m.

Julie Butus, Health and Human Sciences Educator at Purdue Extension in Starke County, will present a program on how to make your money last on Wednesday from 1:30 to 3 p.m. CT at the library

On Thursday, Scott Miller from the U.S. Department of Labor will discuss ways to take the mystery out of retirement from 10 to 11 a.m. and later in the day at 3 p.m. he will educate you on how to avoid financial setbacks, boost your financial performance and more.

Finally, Georgiann Drake from the Social Security Administration will cover social security benefits from on Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m.