Older
adults
and
people
with
disabilities
are
often
prone
to
financial
distress,
and
they
may
require
more
resources
to
better
understand
their
circumstances
and
options,
according
to
a
new
report
from
the


Government
Accountability
Office
(GAO).

Among
a
series
of
24
examples
of
federal
financial
literacy
programs
for
these
groups,
the


U.S.
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development
(HUD)’s
Home
Equity
Conversion
Mortgage
(HECM)
counseling
program
was
cited
as
an
example.

“This
program
provides
counseling
to
all
applicants
of
the
federally
insured
reverse
mortgage
program,
the
Home
Equity
Conversion
Mortgage
program,”
the
report
stated.
“The
Home
Equity
Conversion
Mortgage
allows
adults
age
62
or
older
to
withdraw
a
portion
of
their
home’s
equity
to
use
for
home
maintenance,
repairs,
or
general
living
expenses.”

Since
the
HECM
program
deals
exclusively
with
the
senior
demographic,
the

HECM
counseling
program
is
specifically
designed
to
cater
to
the
needs
of
older
Americans,
which
can
sometimes
be
wildly
different
based
on
health
and
socioeconomic
status,
the
report
noted.

“Agency
officials
said
the
counseling
is
customized
to
the
applicants
and
can
help
them
understand
the
specific
requirements
of
the
reverse
mortgage,”
the
report
explained.
“Applicants
must
complete
this
counseling
before
receiving
a
reverse
mortgage.”

But
data
from
the
full
array
of
financial
literacy
programs
for
older
adults
was
thin,
according
to
GAO’s
findings.
The
Financial
Literacy
and
Education
Improvement
Act,
signed
into
law
by
President
George
W.
Bush
in
2008,
established
the
Financial
Literacy
and
Education
Commission.
This
group
“comprises
the
heads
of
24
federal
agencies
and
entities
to
improve
financial
literacy
and
education
through
coordinated
federal
efforts,”
GAO
explained.

The
commission
has
released
annual
reports
as
long
as
it’s
been
in
existence,
but
the
data
from
these
reports
identified
a
problem,
the
report
stated.

“Of
the
24
financial
literacy
programs
GAO
identified
that
serve
older
adults
and
people
with
disabilities,
the
Commission’s
five
annual
reports
from
fiscal
years
2015
to
2022
included
program
outcome
data
for
one,”
the
report’s
findings
read.
“The
reports
contain
similarly
limited
outcome
information
for
other
financial
literacy
programs.”

The
commission’s
national
strategy
emphasizes
the
importance
of
“collecting
data
on
the
outcomes
of
financial
education
activities
to
assess
their
impacts
and
inform
data-driven
improvements,”
GAO
said,
but
“enhanced
focus
on
outcome
reporting
for
federal
financial
literacy
efforts
could
provide
the
Commission
and
Congress
with
more
robust
information
to
facilitate
oversight
of
federal
financial
literacy
efforts.”

Ultimately,
the
report
recommends
that
the


U.S.
Department
of
the
Treasury
and
the


Consumer
Financial
Protection
Bureau
(CFPB)
“coordinate
with
each
other
and
with
Commission
agencies
to
encourage
the
ongoing
collection
of
data
on
financial
literacy
program
outcomes
and
include
these
data
in
the
Commission’s
annual
report
to
Congress,”
recommendations
that
both
the
CFPB
and
Treasury
agreed
with.

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