RALEIGH, N.C. – The Institute of Consumer Money Management (ICMM), a North Carolina-based nonprofit, today announced a $2 million grant to three leading universities for studying the financial health of Low and Moderate Income (LMI) Americans who are near or in retirement. The grant is a key initiative of ICMM’s mission of creating a sustainable financial future for consumers.
Dr. Robert Clark of North Carolina State University, Dr. Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington University and Dr. Olivia Mitchell of the University of Pennsylvania are the grant recipients. All three scholars are nationally and internationally recognized for their innovative research into the economic well-being of older individuals, retirement decisions, pensions and health insurance and the impact of financial literacy on LMI decision making and well-being. They will work collaboratively over a four-year period as the principal investigators on this comprehensive and innovative study.
“A major issue in the United States is the economic well-being of LMI Americans in retirement,” said Diane Chen, executive director of ICMM. “Increases in life expectancy, changes in pensions and shifts in government programs mean that individuals must now plan for their retirements and become better managers of their assets and debts. The aging of the population and the hollowing out of the middle class also imply that there will be more households facing these challenges in the future.”
The ambitious research program includes seven linked components that together will examine the ability of LMI households to finance and sustain retirement well-being. It will combine the best existing data with new data designed to focus on the LMI population broadly and the African-American segment in particular. The research will probe the effectiveness of financial knowledge in translating savings into retirement well-being.
At the end of the grant cycle, ICMM and the researchers will host a capstone conference to present findings, policy recommendations and suggestions for interventions. ICMM and the principal investigators intend to invite other scholars and practitioners to present their work in the field of LMI retirees’ financial well-being at this conference.
For more information about the three principal investigators, please go to the three principal investigators’ information on their home universities’ web pages.