Happy Financial Literacy Month to you! So what exactly is Financial Literacy?

According to www.PBS.org, the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy defines personal financial literacy as “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.” (2008 Annual Report to the President)

I believe that the majority of people in our country still have a long way to go on achieving the knowledge necessary to attain financial literacy and financial well-being. Most of our schools still don’t teach basic financial education lessons, let alone financial courses.  We send kids off into the world with the knowledge that we as parents learned along the way, and for many of us, that wasn’t much.

This has been a rally cry of mine for as long as I can remember.  Years ago I taught a breast health program to more than 20,000 people after my recovery from breast cancer; most of the time I taught one high school or college classroom at a time. While in those classrooms I would ask the teachers, how many lessons are these kids getting on basic financial education?  Too many times the response was, “Next to nothing and they’re lucky if they learn how to balance a check book.” I believe we are doing our students (future adults) a grave disservice by not teaching them lessons in basic financial matters.

Unfortunately, it seems that not much has changed since my days in the classrooms. Even after the great recession and “a lost decade,” the majority of our country’s school systems still have not stepped up to the plate to require more financial education.  You can read the sobering results of a new survey performed by the Council for Economic Education here – Survey of the States ~ Economic and Personal Financial Education in our Schools 2016.

A compelling body of evidence demonstrates a strong association between financial literacy and household well-being. Survey after survey shows that households that demonstrate low levels of financial literacy are those that tend not to plan for retirement, borrow at high interest rates, and acquire fewer assets.  – Shawn Cole

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to minding your money matters and that’s why this month I’ve invited a few experts from www.DivorceTownUSA.com to share information on financial matters that could matter in your life.  I hope you will find the articles below enlightening.

Check out those articles here:

Here’s to understanding your finances!

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