The three leading explanations for the "retirement savings puzzle" are the desire to insure against uncertain lifespans and medical expenses, the desire to leave bequests to one's heirs, and the desire to remain in one's own home. We discuss the empirical strategies used to differentiate these motivations.

Adam Scavette provides an approach to interpreting news coverage of the economy and applies that framework to the major economic stories of 2022. Scavette is a regional economist based at the Baltimore, Md., branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

A key concern about the Biden administration's debt forgiveness program is its inflationary impact. This post provides a back-of-the-envelope calculation of this impact, based on a specific view of the federal budget and how it interacts with monetary and fiscal policies.

By providing ready access to funding, the Federal Reserve’s discount window helps depository institutions manage their liquidity risks efficiently and avoid actions that have negative consequences for their customers.

Grey Gordon discusses his research and other economists' work on the macroeconomic and policy factors that shape the price of higher education. Gordon is a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Does everyone have the same set of choices when it comes to retirement and other financial decisions pertaining to aging, and is there anything we can do about disparities in access to those choices? Charles Gerena poses these questions to the three panelists from the District Dialogues event in August 2022 titled "The Economics of an Aging America."

There can be high returns to earning an economics degree, helping to draw students to the profession.

Some believe rises in financial aid such as student loans cause corresponding rises in tuition. But reality seems much more nuanced.

How many more borrowers working in public services recently became eligible for student loan forgiveness in the Fifth District?

A look at how the Temporary Asset Threshold Relief program aided community banks during the pandemic.

We study the implications of mixing economics and personal finance standards in a high school course.

Eight times a year, Richmond Fed economists, along with visitors from universities and policy institutions throughout the world, gather in Richmond for CORE (Collaboration of Research Economists) Week.

Read the Federal Reserve’s semi-annual Supervision and Regulation report, published in November, to see information about banking conditions, risks that banking institutions face and supervisory developments.

Climate change presents a number of risks to financial institutions, from impacting customers’ ability to repay loans to business transitions brought on by a greener economy. This climate change primer can help you and your institution understand both the acute and chronic risks of climate change and what to consider when planning for the future.

Private flood insurance may be a more cost-effective option for customers over policies backed by the National Flood Insurance Program. Let us help you wade through the sea of information.

Nearly two-thirds of academic economists have taken on work as paid consultants at some point in their careers — and two in five have done so within the past five years.

This post explains how the newest round of stimulus dollars can be used to help governments and communities recover from the pandemic.

Getting a degree or a certificate is one thing—getting a job is another, particularly given the uncertainty around where the labor market is headed. Educators and community and business leaders shared strategies to connect people to in-demand jobs.

Administrators and educators at community colleges and four-year schools discussed helping students succeed after high school.

In Fifth District states, as in most of the nation, spending appears to be falling short of what is required to support students most in need.

For Financial Literacy Month, two teachers in South Carolina discuss how they help high school students learn about economics and personal finance.

This session explored how education finance has been impacted by the pandemic, the different types of decisions local leaders must make to deliver quality education to students, and how we can try to address issues of equity and disparities going forward.

Education is critical for individual outcomes and for society as a whole. Economists and educators discussed the long-term effects of educational disruptions—and the potential upside to getting it right.

Analysis by our Enformecent and Legal Risk Unit shows how fraudsters exploited unemployment claims during the pandemic. 

What do we know about the sources of educational disparities and how they’ve been amplified by the pandemic? Teachers, parents and administrators shared the challenges students are facing. 

Educational attainment has increased across the Fifth District, but there are large geographic and racial disparities, according to the 2019 American Community Survey estimates.

The Richmond Fed's Enforcement and Legal Risk Unit looks at suspicious activity reports by Fifth District state member banks.

Sarah Gunn and David Bass discuss economic and financial literacy and the role of the Federal Reserve in educating teachers, students and the general public.

Richmond Fed Research Director Kartik Athreya spoke about the benefits of a market system — and the places where that system falls short.

The Richmond Fed's museum teaches students about the roles that individuals and the Federal Reserve play in the economy.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to shift their approach to instruction, the Fed and other economic and financial literacy organizations pivoted, too.

Forbearance programs are allowing mortgage and student loans borrowers to pause their payments. How are borrowers faring and what happens when these programs end?

COVID-19 has disrupted traditional higher education institutions and is forcing institutions to make substantial changes to their plans for the coming academic year.

Disruptions to schooling can have long-term educational and economic effects.

The authors forecast the effects of COVID-19 on loan-delinquency rates under three scenarios for unemployment and house-price movements.

This report examines whether trends in educational attainment among District of Columbia residents align with different student loan outcomes between neighborhoods and borrower segments.

Individuals experience frequent occupational switches during their lifetime, and initial worker characteristics are predictive of future patterns of occupational switching.

The fracking boom might have led workers to forego educational opportunities.

Through an empirically-disciplined human capital model, we demonstrate that the value of college varies dramatically across US high school completers.

When children enter a parent's profession, they probably aren't doing it blindly — they may have smart economic reasons. What's behind this footstep-following phenomenon?

Since 2011, BMW's South Carolina plant has been expanding its apprenticeship program to help grow a tech-savvy workforce.

There are large differences across school districts in enrollment and attendance at high-resource colleges and universities.

Why isn't the U.S. producing more college graduates? Two key — and related — factors appear to play a role in college enrollment and completion: socioeconomic status and preparedness, broadly defined to include both academic preparation and the knowledge needed to make informed choices about college.

We document the growth in higher education costs and tuition over the past 50 years.

This issue examines student loans and directs readers to information and tools for managing student loan repayment.

Grade Level: High School, College, Adult
Resource Type: Publication

A theory of education is built and contrasted empirically to find that (i) option value explains a large part of returns to enrollment, (ii) enrollment in academic two-year colleges is driven by the option to transfer up, and (iii) the value of the stepping stone is small.

Why do kids drop out of high school, and what can be done to help them finish?

Are investors ignoring financial advice to their detriment? Research by a number of economists suggests otherwise. Using more detailed lifecycle models, they find that young investors may be considering a number of risk factors not captured by simple investment rules of thumb.

This paper shows that dispersion in the likelihood of college noncompletion, and to a lesser extent risks to earnings over the life cycle, may strongly limit the response of aggregate human capital investment to further increases in the U.S. college earnings premium.

This issue directs readers to their credit report and provides a road map for resolving credit report errors.

Grade Level: College, Adult
Resource Type: Publication