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Personal Finance Sessions Kick Off SABEW’s NYC Fall 2013 Conference

Ted Beck, president of NEFE, David Cowen, president/CEO of the Museum of American Finance and Kevin G. Hall, president of SABEW
Ted Beck, president of NEFE, David Cowen, president/CEO of the Museum of American Finance and Kevin G. Hall, president of SABEW

NEW YORK- The Museum of American Finance Museum near Wall Street in New York City served as the home to a variety of personal finance journalism sessions and more than 100 registrants in an event co-sponsored by National Endowment for Financial Education and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

Two retirement-centered sessions kicked off the program, including panel discussions covering the impact of aging on financial decisions and on retirement planning in a post-recession era. The official SABEW conference is held at CUNY.

Jane Bryant Quinn, personal finance author and columnist for MoneyWatch.com, among other publications, served as the lunchtime keynote speaker.

Journalists were especially engaged in a post-lunch panel discussion called “Secrets of the Personal Finance Pros” in which veteran business journalists Nicole Ridgeway of CNNMoney.com, Sandra Block of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and Tara Siegel of the New York Times shared some of their reporting secrets and perspectives on current personal finance issues. Linda Stern moderated the discussion.

Ridgeway discussed a new database CNNMoney recently launched to generate leads for stories called Your Economy Page that is already proving fairly successful. The database supplements CNNMoney’s Twitter blasts asking for personal stories that hinge on economic trends. It’s a way to add color and interest to the straightforward business story.

“Especially with money and business, where it can get so dry, it’s nice to tell it through a person,” Ridgeway said.
Business reporters can also keep stories fresh by tying old trends to current events, the panelists said. Writing on a topic that’s fresh in the minds of news consumers helps business coverage catch reader’s attention. Think Obamacare, student loans, real estate.

Personal finance reports should also always remain poised to change their coverage and advice as financials factors shift, veteran panelists advised. For example, where it was once advisable to prioritize paying off a mortgage, consumers may find it makes more sense to make minimum payments on loans with today’s record-low rates.

Regarding collecting and analyzing data, Block warned journalists to always be skeptical of survey data as many organizations are pressured to pump out analytics that may not be sound. Favor surveys from universities or accredited institutions in the barrage of bullet-point facts that may pour into your inbox.

Finally, these veteran journalists remind reporters in today’s Internet-driven world that the value of in-person sourcing will never wane. “We need to get out there and talk to people and find out how they’re creatively dealing with their finances,” Block said.

A final session on the student loan conundrum wrapped up the  sessions. Jordan Goodman of Money Answers moderated panelists Mark Kantrowitz of Edvisors.com, Annamaria Lusarid of George Washington University and Michael Dannenberg of Education Trust.

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