Americans struggling to make good money management decisions in a complex marketplace now have a new tool at their disposal: eXtension's Financial Security for All, an educational partnership that brings the wealth of research-based university information on all aspects of attaining personal financial security.

As a partnership of more than 70 land grant universities, including University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, the program aims to help Americans improve their lives with access to timely, objective, research-based information and educational opportunities.

"As a member of this national initiative eXtension, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension will make available to Nevadans an even wider range of research-based information," said Karen Hinton, UNCE dean and director.

The new eXtension concept, Financial Security for All, provides Internet visitors with reliable and up-to-date financial security information through online lessons for self-paced learning and a knowledge base of commonly asked questions with research-based, peer-reviewed answers to help users learn more about specialized areas of personal finance.

"Financial Security for All is like having a personal financial educator, but even better. Publications and answers to Frequently Asked Questions on a wide variety of financial topics are available to consumers 24/7/365 at no cost," said Barb O'Neill, a certified financial planner and a financial resource management specialist at New Jersey's Rutgers University.

Financial Security for All features:

• Frequently Asked Questions: Compiled by financial security experts from throughout the nation, this includes simple, clear answers from experts on topics such as credit, insurance, investing, retirement, consumer issues and talking about money.
• Ask an Expert: Financial security experts nationwide provide a timely response to individual personal finance-related questions.
• News & Upcoming Events: Every day something's happening in the world of personal finance and eXtension's Financial Security for All keeps the news and calendar of events current at the local, state and national levels.
• Calculation Tools: Consumers can use online tools to maximize their payments on credit accounts to achieve debt reduction. Farm and ranch families can use this site to help answer questions about retirement.

"This site also provides timely, unbiased and research-based learning modules to help consumers learn about everything from investing, retirement and estate planning to organizing their household records and teaching young people about money," said Dr. Debra Pankow, family economics specialist at North Dakota State University.

Financial Security for All has been developed through the collaboration of Community of Practice members—Cooperative Extension Service professionals with expertise in financial planning and family economics. "Quality content developed in a virtual work place by an expert team is the formula for this exemplary, trusted, electronic learning environment. Participants will gain the knowledge, skills, motivation, and confidence to make their own financial decisions," said Jane Schuchardt, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's family economics program leader.

The program's interactive website, http://www.extension.org, is customized with links to local University of Nevada Cooperative Extension website at www.unce.unr.edu . Land-grant universities were founded on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all, that the university should teach liberal and practical subjects, and share the university's knowledge with people throughout their states.