SALEM, Mass. — Two local mayors, Massachusetts Division of Banks staffers, FDIC examiners and others will volunteer at Institution for Savings’ 14th annual Credit for Life Fair on Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon at Salem State University’s O’Keefe Sports Complex.
One-hundred forty bank and community volunteers will join more than 1,100 juniors from 14 area schools, including Amesbury, Newburyport, Triton Regional, Pentucket Regional, Ipswich, Georgetown, Masconomet Regional, Hamilton-Wenham Regional, Salem, Swampscott, Beverly, Rockport and Gloucester high schools as well as Landmark School in Beverly. The goal is to help students develop personal budgeting skills they will use throughout their lives.
Utilizing the bank’s Credit for Life website, creditforlife.org, students will create profiles on their mobile devices and choose professions. Using the website and their devices, they will visit 12 booths and purchase everything they would need to live as 25-year-olds using their monthly paycheck, savings account and/or a credit card.
The website was the result of a 2020 collaboration between seven of Massachusetts’ leading banks that in addition to Newburyport-based Institution for Savings, included Cape Cod Five, Rockland Trust, Harbor One, BayCoast Bank, Country Bank, Westfield Bank and The Savings Bank.
The banks, along with nonprofit FitMoney, pooled financial and informational resources to develop the online site, which has been used by tens of thousands of students throughout Massachusetts and beyond. The site has been improved each year, and this year includes translation to Spanish and Portuguese.
Despite a longstanding record of providing high academic achievement, Massachusetts has not been as successful with mandating financial education.
A recently published opinion piece says Massachusetts is now one of 25 states that guarantee a standalone half-credit course in financial literacy for high school students before graduation or is implementing such a policy, according to Nex Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit that provides free personal finance curriculum. In fact, only 17 districts in Massachusetts require a financial literacy course to graduate high school.
“The goal of the fair is to help empower students to be proactive about their financial futures by beginning to develop sound personal finance habits,” said Michael J. Jones, Institution for Savings’ president and CEO.
“Each year, we hear from parents and teachers after the event that they wish this had been around when they were in school,” Jones added. “We are glad to host this event every year – it is invaluable to these students and information they will use throughout the lives.”
Local community volunteers include Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove and Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon, North Shore Chamber CEO Karen Andreas, representatives from the FDIC and Massachusetts Division of Banks and many others, including 50 Institution for Savings employees.
Two bonus booths are also included: Money Smarts and Safety and Security. Money Smarts will provide students with information about timely teen finance topics, including about paychecks and taxes, check writing, mobile payment apps and the latest scams and fraud threatening teens and young adults.
Safety and Security, staffed by local public safety and law enforcement, will focus on important issues to keep young adults safe, such as texting and avoiding substance use while driving and having smoke detectors in living spaces.
The event receives high marks annually from schools, parents and volunteers, many of the latter whom come back each year to participate, according to organizers.
“The level to which the bank has taken this event is outstanding and unequaled by any other event I have attended,” said Rodi Adema, a FDIC field supervisor who has volunteered at the fair for multiple years.
