Objective Financial Education WITHOUT Financial Sales Agenda

Cygnet Institute of Personal Financial Literacy [a §501(c)(3) organization-IRS determination 4/15/2016] in partnership with Oakland Community College, brings a field-tested, fresh and unique educational approach to the retirement preparedness issues with which 401(k) plan trustees routinely wrestle. This focus allows us to most effectively fulfill our stated mission to educate adults in economic matters in order to enhance their ability to make good financial decisions and through their improved financial literacy enhance quality of life for themselves as individuals and the community in which they work and/or live.



401(k) Plan participants generally lack knowledge and skill in the actuarial and investment decisions necessary to correctly plan for their retirement. Though educational seminars and workbooks create knowledge, mere knowledge does not necessarily translate into skill. This lack of skill can lead to bad decisions which in turn creates financial stress. This stress diminishes the individual’s financial wellness and has been proven to play a key role hurting productivity and retention in the workplace.



Cygnet Institute can help because of what we do and what we don’t do. Our experience in the field of adult economic literacy education goes back to 1989. Since then, our focus has been on the continuous development and refinement of workshops that have certain characteristics:

• Experiential design which allows participants to learn from building their own plan


• Transparency in the way we guide participants eliminates any hints of a secondary agenda


• Mass Customization makes possible a high level of financial advice delivered confidentially in a group setting


• Self-Completing means participants end up with a real plan that they have confidence in and can act on


• Fiduciary Standard permeates all content


• Prohibition of sales, cross-sales or any solicitation of workshop participants to make them clients

For more in-depth information, please consult our web site at www.CygnetInstitute.org or contact me directly

Ted Lakkides, CFP®, President

cell: (248) 330-7074

email: Ted@CygnetInstitute.org