Former Brookings Scholar Matt Fellowes Adds Think Tankers to Financial Services Board

HelloWallet, a service that provides financial advice to employees of Fortune 500 companies, announced the appointment of eight individuals to their Academic Advisory Board--half of which are think tankers.

HelloWallet, founded by former Brookings scholar Matt  Fellowes, is self-described as an "independent wealth-boosting service that increases savings and reduces debt for its members."

"We are thrilled to include some of the top academic minds in the country on our team," said Fellowes in a released statement. "Since we launched our beta 9 months ago, we have driven take-up rates at our Fortune 500 partners that are up to 5X the industry norms, found the average employee over $800 in savings, and saw large increases in savings and reductions in debt. This team of experts will help HelloWallet boost savings and wealth even further in the years to come."

The four think tank scholars come from RAND and Brookings:

• William G. Gale, Ph.D (Brookings Institution), the Arjay and Frances Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, is an expert on tax policy, fiscal issues, pensions, and saving behavior. He is also co-director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, and director of the Retirement Security Project.

• Aileen Heinberg, Ph.D (RAND) is an Associate Behavioral Scientist at RAND, whose research covers the influence of emotion on decisions and financial decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.

• Annamaria Lusardi, Ph.D (George Washington University) is the Director of the Financial Literacy Center, a joint Center of Rand, Dartmouth College, and the Wharton School created with the support of the Social Security Administration. She has taught at Dartmouth College, Princeton University, the University of Chicago Public Policy School, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Columbia Business School.

• Joanne Yoong, Ph.D (RAND) is an economist at RAND. She received her Ph.D. in economics at Stanford University as an FSI Starr Foundation Fellow, and her AB in economics and applied and computational mathematics from Princeton.