The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) wraps up today the last of its Money-Saving Wednesdays for the District’s first Financial Literacy Month. DISB hosted Planning a Worry Free Retirement at its office at 810 First Street, NE, to end the brown bag lunch series on saving and getting out of debt. The events targeted mainly District government employees, but it was open to the public.

“The number of people attending our seminars shows that people are responsive and receptive to this type of information, and DISB is in a great position to leverage community resources to educate and protect consumers,” said Commissioner Thomas E. Hampton. “We’re pleased that a month has been set aside to focus on wealth building as overall consumer debt has increased for households at all income levels over the last year. We want people to think about saving before spending.”

Mayor Adrian Fenty had issued a proclamation declaring the month of April as Financial Literacy Month, which signified the city’s ongoing commitment to inspiring residents to engage in programs and activities that help build wealth. One such program is DC Saves.

DISB and the nonprofit Capital Area Asset Builders (CAAB) joined the DC Saves campaign, a local offshoot of America Saves, a nationwide campaign in which a coalition of nonprofit, corporate and government groups create innovative strategies to motivate Americans to develop better saving habits. A DC Saver is anyone who agrees to save regularly for a specific goal such as a rainy day fund, car or home purchase, college tuition, retirement or debt repayment and reduction.

DISB used the seminars to introduce DC Saves. At the first seminar on April 4, Making Saving a Habit, more than 30 people attended and about 10 signed up for DC Saves. So far, about 25 people have signed up as DC Savers, according to CAAB.

DISB will end its Financial Literacy Month activities with a community presentation. On April 26 at 3 pm, DISB will host the ABCs of Saving for Education seminar at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Main Lobby. Attendees can listen to Laurent Ross of the Calvert Group discuss the Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 529 college savings plans, tuition assistance grants available to District residents and more. In addition to Money-Saving Wednesday seminars, DISB is also making community presentations on other topics related to financial services. To learn more about DISB’s consumer-education programs, please visit disb.dc.gov.