April 3, 2002
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
by Elizabeth Auster

Washington - A savings program launched in Cleveland that offers free financial advice is being expanded nationwide.

The new program, run by the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning Association, will allow Americans anywhere to arrange a free session with a financial planner by phone or e-mail, the groups said.

The advice will generally be limited to about 30 minutes, and the only cost will come in cases where a phone call cannot be arranged locally, resulting in long-distance charges, the groups said. Although the program is intended primarily to help poor and middle-income people, it will be open to everyone, said Bob Barry, president of the financial planning group. About 500 members of his group will volunteer to handle calls, he said.

"We think it's critically important that all Americans, not only the wealthy, have access to competent and ethical financial advice," Barry said.

People interested in the program first would have to join America Saves, a more modest national version of a pilot program known as Cleveland Saves.

The Cleveland program, officially launched by the nonprofit consumer group about a year ago, now has 1,400 participants who have agreed to increase their savings in exchange for free coaching, advice and other help.

To join the national program, people would have to complete a short form in which they set a savings goal and agree to make a monthly deposit or debt payment towards that goal. Forms are available at www.AmericaSaves.org.

People who sign up for the program will be eligible to arrange a consultation by calling 800-647-6340.

It may be possible in some instances to arrange a second session, but the program is not meant to provide a full consultation that includes a detailed analysis of a person's finances, said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.

(SEE CORRECTION NOTE)At a news conference yesterday, the two groups also released results of a survey showing that 53 percent of Americans believe it is more important to plan financially as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks. The survey, conducted last month, showed that blacks and Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 were most likely to say that the events of Sept. 11 made financial planning more important.

CORRECTION-DATE: April 4, 2002

CORRECTION:
Because of an editing error, a story on Page C3 of yesterday's Business section contained ambiguous wording. The story, which was continued from Page C1, should have quoted a survey as showing that the two groups most likely to say that the events of Sept. 11 make financial planning more important were black Americans of all ages and Americans of all races between the ages of 25 and 34.