3rd Decade

TOGETHER, WE CAN CHANGE FINANCIAL FUTURES

3rd Decade's mission and vision is to change financial futures forever, starting now by empowering through education; we strive to help program participants across Arizona make simple changes in their financial behavior, create long-term financial goals, and equip them with the knowledge and tools needed to be successful in securing their financial future, changing the lives of these individuals, and creating a positive ripple throughout their community.

MEET 3RD DECADE

What started as a passion project by founder Bob Swift of TCI Wealth Advisors in Tucson quickly grew into 3rd Decade. He saw how large the need was (and is) for quality financial education and support beyond that initial instruction, and began the Swift Start Fund to help further jumpstart graduates' savings. 3rd Decade filed its independent nonprofit status in 2019 and has since grown to have over ten team members and nearly 200 volunteer financial professionals serving ~1,100 young people annually, nationwide. In 2024, we were honored to win the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education's Outstanding Educational Program Award. 

FAQ

• Why financial education?
  Young adults are dealing with the consequences of financial insecurity due to a lack of financial literacy and guidance. Studies have shown that inadequate financial knowledge can lead to fewer employment opportunities, generational debt, bankruptcy and stress. In fact, 50% of young adults report living paycheck to paycheck while millennials are the first generation to make less than their parents. This is often magnified for young people of color. 3rd Decade actively works to close systemic wealth gaps and bases our work on how key financial stability is to living a healthy life. 
• Who do you serve? 
  Our Core program serves individuals who are between 18-35 years of age, have an individual income less than $75,000 or a household income less than $120,000, are ready to manage debt, start a financial plan and have the ability to save, and can commit to attending the four classes and financial mentor meetings over the course of the program. Individuals and households that fall outside of the eligibility margins can apply to be a part of our asynchronous Access program. Both Core and Access programs (including mentoring) are fully available in Spanish for those who prefer to learn and handle complicated financial concepts in Spanish. Starting this year, we are also creating workshops on some key concepts in English and Spanish for those who are not yet ready or have hesitations or constraints around joining our Core or Access programs. 
• What is the Core program?
  • 10 hours of Educational Instruction: covers personal finance, budgeting, savings, debt management, and investing. Classes are a mixture of lecture, video, hands-on activities, and resource presentations using best practices from the wealth management industry and taught by professional financial educators.
  • 2 Years of Pro-Bono Financial Mentorship: Participants have the opportunity to build a personal relationship with a financial mentor to establish and manage spending, saving, and investing plans; three 1:1 meetings for a total of 5 hours over a two-year period.
  • $250 Roth IRA contribution: 3rd Decade provides a $250 contribution from the Swift Start Fund for any graduate of the program who participated in all classes and advisor meetings along with a passing grade on the final exam that tests understanding of core principles.
• What will my donation support?
  • When you donate during Arizona Gives 2025, your gift goes directly to our Swift Start Roth Fund. This fund directly provides our Roth IRA contribution to graduates of our program.
  • What's the Swift Start Roth Fund? We aren’t one of those all talk, no action financial education nonprofits. We believe in our participants and their financial success so much, that 3rd Decade puts $250 into Core Program graduates' Roth IRAs. 
• Can you show me the numbers?
  • Median Net Worth Change over 2 years for 2024 graduates: $62,050
  • Over 1,700 individuals served in 2024
  • 55% of participants are Arizona residents 
  • Average cost per participant over 2 years: $1,500

Let's go!