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    Laurie Fenlason
    Media Relations Director
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February 20, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RATE YOUR FINANCIAL SAVVY

Online Quiz, For Young Women, By Young Women, Tests Knowledge of Key Terms And Concepts Needed for Smart Money Management

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. ­ As a group, young women are often better known for their ability to spend money than to manage it.


Recent studies have shown that 47 percent of single women ages 21 to 34 carry unpaid credit card balances averaging about $2,000, and almost half live paycheck to paycheck.


Moreover, studies have shown that women in general-and college-aged women in particular-tend to avoid dealing with matters of personal finance.


To begin to counter such attitudes toward money, Smith College has created an online quiz [www.smith.edu/wfi/toolbox.html] for women who want to evaluate their knowledge of personal finance.


Designed and created by Smith students, the 15-question quiz addresses practical financial concerns of women graduating from college, including basic budgeting, financing a car purchase, repaying student loans and using credit cards wisely.


Because women are less likely than men to receive a pension, and much more likely to enter their retirement years in poverty, the quiz also delves into areas that might seem remote to a 22-year-old, including how to choose a retirement plan, the benefits and drawbacks of stock options and techniques of long-term investing.


Most important, notes Smith College economist Mahnaz Mahdavi, the questions and answers are presented free of jargon and assume no prior knowledge of money matters.


"Too often, young women think there's something mysterious about money," Mahdavi explains.


"They think that if they don't already speak the specialized vocabulary of '401k's' or of 'options and futures' then they can't enter into the discussion. And that's simply not true," she insists.


The online quiz is part of a new endeavor directed by Mahdavi, known as "Women & Financial Independence: The Smith College Program in Financial Education." Established in partnership with Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Ann Kaplan, a Smith alumna and trustee, who together have provided $2.5 million in seed money, the program consists of a series of non-credit courses-"Financing Life," "Principles of Investing," "Entrepreneurship" and more-designed to help young women take hold of their own financial futures by understanding the central role of economics in their lives.


The program is believed to be the first in the nation aimed specifically at undergraduate women. Record numbers of students have already participated in the courses, which began in September 2001 and are ongoing. The program has been featured in Business Week, Newsday and the Boston Globe, as well as on National Public Radio and on NBC's "Today" show.


Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's foremost liberal arts colleges. Enrolling 2,800 students from every state and 50 other countries, Smith is the largest undergraduate women's college in the country.

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