We are at a conference in Reno, NV right now. Boring? Absolutely not! Today we are so lucky to have NV Treasurer Kate Marshall with us. (Shameless Plug- Ms. Marshall recently visited The Piggy Bank at Bracken). Our lunch keynote speaker was Jose Cisneros, city of San Francisco Treasurer - who talked about the extensive Financial Services they've come to provide. A great City, yes; but totally replicable (and the city of San Francisco is committed to helping do this in other cities!)
Inspiration in the workshops today is incredible. Anee Brar heads up the city of San Francisco's K-to-C program; every child that starts Kindergarten gets a savings account with matches and incentives for college. IF YOU HAVE A SAVINGS ACCOUNT FOR COLLEGE - YOU ARE 6 or 7 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO GO TO COLLEGE. Parent Engagement is also important so we hope to be able to share common and best practices in the future.
The afternoon session was Behavioral Economics, hosted by PHd students from UNR, as well as Mark Pingle, professor of Economics from UNR. It was very interesting to get some technical reasons as to why people make the savings choices (or don't).
The programs are coming to a close - but we do have a Q&A regarding consumer protection in personal banking and finance. Very important and pertinent for young bankers who don't have experience with banking products.
This is one of those trips that we are so glad we took the time to make. Thank you to the Financial Stability Partnership for hosting this inaugural summit. We will make it a point to be here every year.