Do We Have CommonCents?
By Nandika Madgavkar, Head Global Integrated Communications + Brand Strategy for MetLife Foundation
It is not often that a corporate foundation will partner with a disruptive [the new buzz word] thinker to advance a cause, but recently MetLife Foundation did just that. On Monday, December 7, we announced an $8 million, three-year partnership with Dan Ariely, head of Duke University's Center for Advanced Hindsight, to launch a new laboratory focused on identifying behavioral solutions to improving financial actions of underserved Americans.
The CommonCents Lab will partner directly with banks, credit unions, community colleges, employers and other nonprofit organizations to design, build and test solutions intended to help people make smarter choices with their finances. It will focus on developing steps to help people build emergency, retirement and college savings, and make informed big purchase decisions and end-of-life financial arrangements.
The CommonCents team and its research partners will identify behavior-related challenges and design solutions, as well as implement randomized controlled trials to test those solutions in the real world. Results, when they are in, will be published here.
In a recent Forbes article by Elizabeth Harris, Mr Ariely talked about the partnership with MetLife Foundation, how behavioral economics can aid low-income families and the one change we should all make to improve our financial lives. That's a lesson we can all benefit from this Holiday Season!
Happy Holidays and Stay Away from Boxing Day!
