El Paso Money Smart Week kickoff event to promote personal finance education

For Immediate Release: April 18, 2017

EL PASO, Texas—Did you know that El Paso is one of the 10 U.S. cities with the worst average credit score? According to LendingTree, the average credit score in El Paso was 628 in 2015.

To help consumers better manage their personal finances, the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has partnered with local nonprofits and financial institutions to present Money Smart Week.

The program kicks off Saturday, April 22, with free breakfast for all attendees and a series of free financial literacy workshops for the public from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Region 19 Head Start Multipurpose Center, 11670 Chito Samaniego Drive.

Sessions in English and Spanish will cover topics such as budgeting, saving, credit, identity theft, homebuying, retirement planning, college readiness and entrepreneurship. The program will also feature free breakfast and raffles, including a cash prize.

Additional interactive sessions will also be available in which volunteers will help attendees learn how to pull their credit report, understand their credit and credit score, and sign up for myRA—a free starter retirement savings account from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Designed for individuals who don’t have access to a retirement savings plan or lack other options to save, the account costs nothing to open, has no fees and safely earns interest.

Partners will also host booths providing educational information. Over 4,000 families of the Head Start program and the general public have been invited to attend.

Money Smart Week runs April 22–29 and is designed to educate consumers about money management and create awareness of financial education programs on topics such as budgeting, saving and using credit wisely.

More information on the campaign and/or additional events is available on the Money Smart Week El Paso website and on Facebook.

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Media contact:
Ruben Ahedo
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, El Paso Branch
915-521-5241
Ruben.ahedo@dal.frb.org