FINRA and SIFMA Foundation Plan Five-Year Push to Teach Investing Basics

The central challenge behind FINRA and the SIFMA Foundation’s five-year alliance is a growing mismatch: young people encounter investment products and advice early, while many lack the knowledge to judge risk or make sense of markets. The organizations plan to expand financial education, building on classroom experience and exploring digital tools for younger audiences.

The need shows up in parents’ answers. A SIFMA Foundation survey found that 92 percent believe it is critical for children to learn about investing, but 78 percent say they lack confidence teaching the basics at home. Another 76 percent believe financial education should start before high school. Those figures point to a gap between parents’ expectations and their comfort providing instruction themselves.

That gap matters as commission-free trading apps, social media personalities who discuss finance, and new savings products bring investment choices within younger people’s reach. Easy access can make it simpler to begin investing, but it doesn’t automatically provide the vocabulary to compare asset classes, understand potential losses or assess the reliability of advice. The article’s source also notes that young clients may arrive at meetings with advisers having already acted on suggestions from apps, AI chatbots or social media.

A classroom model with a long track record

The alliance draws on the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game, launched in 1977 and used by more than 24 million students. Participants manage a simulated portfolio, research companies and make decisions as a team. The exercise connects investing concepts with maths, personal finance and critical thinking, giving students a practical setting to consider how choices affect a portfolio.

Simulation can make abstract ideas easier to examine: students can discuss why they chose an investment, how it fits with other holdings and what new information might change their view. It also creates room to learn from decisions without putting personal savings at stake. The organizations have not announced a specific platform or named new programs under the alliance. They say extending the model through digital tools is a priority as they seek to reach young people who grew up online.

“Reaching young people early empowers them to make informed decisions, build confidence and take greater control of their future,” said Melanie Mortimer, president of the SIFMA Foundation.

Rich Daly, founder chair emeritus of Broadridge and chairman of the SIFMA Foundation, said the effort could widen children’s access to financial education and help them understand that they can participate in markets. The intended reach, as described by the organizations, spans a child’s first exposure to investing through financial decisions later in adulthood.

Building knowledge before adviser meetings

FINRA’s existing education work focuses on helping individuals understand investment products, weigh risk and recognize possible fraud. Those topics complement the SIFMA Foundation’s classroom focus on markets and investing. The organizations frame the combination as a way to build knowledge earlier, before a person is making decisions with an adviser or managing money independently.

For advisers, earlier instruction could help clients ask more informed questions and explain the reasoning behind choices they have already made. It may also give families a shared set of terms for discussing risk and long-term goals. Education can improve understanding, but it cannot remove uncertainty from investing or ensure that people make the same choices. The practical test will be whether future programs help students apply concepts when they encounter real products and claims.

FINRA executive vice president for board and external relations Marcia Asquith said research from the FINRA Foundation links investment literacy with better financial outcomes, including greater retirement preparedness and lower susceptibility to fraud. That connection gives the alliance a broader rationale than introducing students to market mechanics: the stated aim also includes skills that can affect financial decisions over time.

Reach and follow-through will matter

More states now require personal finance education in high schools, while discussion of financial literacy has accompanied new savings incentives for young Americans. Advisers have also described financial illiteracy as a client concern: InvestmentNews has reported that more than two-thirds acknowledged it as an issue in their practices. These developments add to the case for earlier instruction, though they don’t show how much students retain or how consistently they can apply what they learn.

The FINRA–SIFMA Foundation effort will be judged in part by its reach beyond an established classroom program, and by whether digital materials help students understand rather than simply encounter investing content. Details are expected to emerge in phases. The organizations have yet to specify the programs, delivery methods or measures they will use. Those details will clarify how the five-year effort turns its broad goal into sustained instruction.

FINRA is a not-for-profit organization that oversees member brokerage firms operating in the United States under SEC oversight. The SIFMA Foundation is the charitable arm of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Their respective roles give the alliance a mix of investor education and classroom experience; its impact will depend on how effectively that experience reaches students and equips them to assess financial choices as new products and platforms appear.