The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds recently received a 2021 Governor’s Financial Literacy Award for its pilot financial wellness program, Wisconsin Strong: Your Financial Security™. The program was selected by the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy and Capability for successfully meeting the following criteria:
- Innovative implementation of an effective financial literacy and capability program
- Emphasis on financial inclusion
- Demonstrated measurable results
- Collaboration with partners
- Scalability of the program design
The Wisconsin Strong program provided targeted and online education, resources, and tools to help the state’s 475,000 government employees and retirees maximize their Wisconsin Retirement System benefits, grow their financial knowledge, and achieve their personal financial goals.
The pilot program was conducted March 2021 through February 2022. More than 18,300 participants completed online financial health self-assessments, personalized and interactive courses, and webinars. More than 200 individuals took steps to reduce their college debt and 401 new college savings accounts were started.
If you signed up for the Financial Fitness Challenge educational platform, you can continue to access resources through May 31, 2022. The vendor, Financial Fitness Group, will provide customer service support.
Individuals that set up a Savi account for student loan repayment and loan forgiveness, these services will continue per the terms of their accounts. The vendor, Savi, will provide customer service support.
In addition to the Governor’s award, MissionSquare Research Institute featured the Wisconsin Strong program in its report, Innovative Public Sector Employee Financial Wellness Programs. The report highlights the program’s outreach and education, metrics, and lessons learned.
For More Information
Send an email to etfsmbwistrong@etf.wi.gov.