Charles Schwab

The Challenge
Lack of financial literacy among teens is a serious issue in the United States. Schwab research revealed that parents are highly concerned with their children’s knowledge of finance and money management. Parents want to engage their kids on this topic and help them understand the importance of a secure financial future, but many feel they don’t have the necessary expertise to teach even the fundamentals. At the same time, Schwab’s research uncovered that teens want to learn about personal finances, and that it’s an important subject to them.

To help parents teach and teens learn wise money management skills and to promote the concept of financial literacy, the company developed the Schwab MoneyWise™ program. As part of this program, Schwab wanted to have an interactive experience where teens and their parents could go to learn about personal finances. Kids understand the online world and enjoy online interactivity. And they are more apt to read about a subject online than pick up a pamphlet.

The Approach
Schwab approached Extractable in early January, 2007 to design and develop the Schwab MoneyWise website (www.schwabmoneywise.com). With U.S. Financial Literacy Month in April being a key driver, the delivery timeline was tight. It was decided to break the project into two phases:

• Phase 1 would provide useful budgeting tools and templates, and primers for subjects such as developing strong saving habits and using credit cards. The information would be organized by financial topic (budgeting, saving, borrowing and investing) and financial milestone (getting a first car, going to college and leaving home). The site would also feature a Flash game called Schwab MoneyWise™ It’s Your Life, which shows how a person’s future can change based on life choices and financial decisions made along the way.
• Phase 2 of project would enhance site tools and content, and provide a richer, more dynamic online experience with new learning games, video elements and other Web 2.0 features.

The Extractable team worked with Schwab’s Consumer Education, Public Relations, Creative Services, Branding, Advertising and Web teams as well as the company’s external research agency. This firm had led focus groups that determined there was a strong need for a curriculum such as the MoneyWise program. In fact, the initial wish list and project direction came from the quantitative output of these focus groups.