.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Local financial advisers will celebrate National Financial Planning Week this week, Oct. 1-7, not by focusing on affluent clients but by providing free financial coaching to low- and middle-income residents through a new initiative called Central Iowa Saves.

The local chapter of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) is playing a key role in Central Iowa Saves through a partnership with United Way of Central Iowa, Iowans for Social and Economic Development (ISED) and several major Iowa employers. An offshoot of the National FPA’s America Saves program, the Iowa project is a community-wide effort to improve financial literacy and financial stability for low-income working families.

Patrick Van Nice, president of the Financial Planning Association of Iowa, said, “Our volunteers will be working with low- to middle-income employees of some of the large employers in our area, people who don’t necessarily even have a savings account.”

Why the emphasis on saving? Last year, the national savings rate hit a negative 1 percent, a rate much lower than those of comparable industrialized nations and our country’s lowest point since 1933 during the Great Depression. Though there is considerable debate among experts about how depository savings affect the overall economy, most Americans realize that lack of personal savings or emergency funds can leave families living at low income levels vulnerable to even small changes in the economy, work or family situations.

“The low savings rate in America is a national crisis,” said Jason Kirke, pro bono director of the local FPA chapter and a chief organizer of the program, “and Iowa is no exception.”

According to a Sept. 25, 2007, Sioux City Journal article headlined “Iowa’s Poverty Rate Increased Last Year,” new census figures reveal that Iowa’s poverty rate increased in 2005, for the second year in a row. According to the article, 11.3 percent of Iowans lived in poverty in 2005, up from 10.9 percent in 2004 and 8.9 percent in 2003.

For those living in poverty, saving a portion of wages on a regular basis may seem impossible, and the concept of contributing to a retirement plan completely out of reach. For low- to middle-income working families above the poverty level, however, saving for the future may be an equally challenging endeavor. There is still a great need for basic financial education, such as how to budget, establish a bank account, balance a checkbook or enroll in an employer-sponsored contributory plan.

Providing this fundamental financial information is at the root of Central Iowa Saves. Financial planners from the area will donate their time and their professional expertise to small group presentations held on local employers’ work sites. Among the employers already planning to participate in the program are Iowa Health – Des Moines, Mercy Medical Center and Des Moines Area Community College.

Kirke and his FPA colleague Dennis Markway have worked closely with the national FPA, which developed America Saves in response to members’ desires to contribute to their communities in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Kirke and Markway also have collaborated with the local United Way, ISED and metro employers to shape the programs.

“The national FPA has encouraged people at the local chapter level to find ways to partner with existing successful not-for-profit organizations that already reach out to their communities,” said Kirke. “The United Way here was already making inroads with financial education, and their board agreed this was an important area to address.”

Financial Planning Week “brings together those who provide, support and benefit from professional financial planning,” says the FPA Web site. In Iowa, industry professionals will share their time and talents with citizens who could benefit from the financial planning process at its most fundamental level. In helping Iowans save, Kirke said, “we’re really trying to make a difference in our own community.”r

Suzanna De Baca is the president of Private Capital Solutions Group. She is a registered representative and financial adviser for Park Avenue Securities LLC.