The Iowa Financial Fitness Challenge is an event-driven wellness program that provides interactive, effective, unbiased online instruction in personal finance and investing fundamentals.

SAN DIEGO, CA, July 8, 2020 –Financial Fitness Group (www.FinancialFitnessGroup.com) and the Iowa Insurance Division announce the extension of their partnership to provide financial education to Iowans. For the last five years, the Iowa Insurance Division, in collaboration with the Financial Fitness Group, has offered the Iowa Financial Fitness Challenge to all employers and large affiliate organizations in Iowa. This public service initiative is sponsored and funded by the Iowa Insurance Division at no cost for employers and their employees to access the program.

“We’re proud to help Iowans take steps toward a more secure financial future,” Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said.  “I encourage all employers and affiliate organizations to join us in providing these resources to their employees and members.  It’s free and easy to do but can make a big impact to Iowans.”

Now more than ever, the impact of financial literacy on the American workforce is critical. Recent studies suggest that in light of COVID-19, employees are now facing new work-life challenges in the current crisis, with two out of three employees stating they feel even more stressed now than before the pandemic. Financial health has been directly linked to poor physical, mental, and social health and can cost an employer up to $2000 on average per employee.

“When we first engaged with the Iowa Insurance Division in 2014, we never imagined we would impact financial literacy in the state of Iowa as we have,” said Joe Saari, Founder of the Financial Fitness Group. “Since we launched the Iowa Financial Fitness Challenge, we’ve engaged more than 400 organizations and financially educated over 200,000 employees within Iowa.” He continued, “It is an honor to have extended this partnership for the next three years with the Iowa Insurance Division to continue to provide free financial wellness to every Iowan, especially during today’s economic crises due to COVID-19.”

More than 400 organizations have participated in the program over the last seven years, including Genesis Health System, Des Moines Public Schools, YMCA of Greater Des Moines, Iowa Catholic Radio, Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, and Mercy Medical Center to name a few.

Here’s how the Iowa Financial Fitness Challenge works:

  • Each organization’s platform is branded and comes pre-loaded with three-course topics on personal finance and investing fundamentals.
  • Throughout the challenge, participants are quizzed after each course, to set a baseline for where they should focus their attention. The platform then intuitively recommends other courses to the participants based on their lack of what they call the A, B, C’s of Financial Wellness – aptitude, behavior, and confidence, with respect to specific financial topics.
  • After completing the last course, users are assessed based on metrics from the quizzes they take throughout the program to see the impact of the program. Each organization’s administrator is then issued a final report that illustrates changes in financial wellness scores, knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes of its participants.

Each course takes about 1 hour to complete and is accessible anytime, anywhere from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. Spending as little as 10 minutes a day, users can go at their own pace, taking as long or as short a time as they would like to complete it. The Iowa Financial Fitness Challenge is proven to lower stress and distractions, as well as increase employee productivity. 70% of participants improved their financial literacy confidence levels after completion of the challenge, while 48% of participants improved their knowledge of basic finances.

The Iowa Financial Fitness Challenge occurs twice per year, once in April and once in September, and is offered for free on a first-come, first-serve basis to employers who apply to participate in the program. The program is provided to employer groups as well as affiliate organizations with large memberships who would like to offer financial literacy as an added member benefit. The next challenge begins on September 9, 2020, and spots are filling up quickly. To learn more about the program and apply for this fall’s challenge, organizations may visit financialfitnessgroup.com/iowa.

About Precision Information, DBA Financial Fitness Group:

Financial Fitness Group is a leading e-learning software company providing unbiased, FINRA-compliant educational content. Our interactive platform maximizes participant engagement and is proven to improve a user’s financial aptitude, behavior, and confidence. Financial Fitness Group is the leading provider of personal finance and investing learning solutions to financial service providers, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies.

For additional information, images, and press materials, please contact Georgette Regan, georgette@financialfitnessgroup.com.