Mark Lynch, National Credit Union Foundation senior program manager, served as the opening speaker Wednesday at the annual conference on financial education, presented by the Institute for Financial Literacy in Orlando, Fla.

“It was a great opportunity to talk about the credit union difference and tell people how they can partner with credit unions to provide financial education in their communities,” Lynch told News Now following his presentation.

Among the topics Lynch addressed in the session:

• Today’s enormous need for financial education;
• The growing evidence that indicates that tradition “classroom" presentations are not as effective as always thought;
• Why experiential learning is shaping up as the most effective way to teach financial literacy in the future;
• Credit union reality fair programs; and
• The Foundation’s retirement fair and life simulation programs.

“Financial education is more important than ever because people are struggling,” Lynch told News Now. “They’re not struggling because they’re foolish with their money; they’re struggling because in many cases their pay is barely adequate to survive.”

Lynch said research shows that traditional financial education--someone standing in front of a classroom--is not as effective as the experiential learning provided by reality fairs, retirement fairs and life simulation programs. “I wanted to provide an introduction to that type of experience,” he said.