https://www.fdic.gov/resources/consumers/money-smart/index.html
This article highlights the results of an FDIC study of the effectiveness of the Money Smart financial education program. The second link is to the Money Smart Homepage. The study indicates that financial education programs can positively affect consumers’ money management attitudes and behaviors. The study also shows that financial education strengthens consumers’ relationships with banks and can improve their financial condition. This article is full of noteworthy positive-money-trend charts.
By the end of the money smart program, most graduates had decreased debt levels and increased personal savings.
On people under 25 – “Offering this group the opportunity to learn the basics of budgeting, saving and investing, and using credit wisely may be the best way to help them develop good
financial habits for a lifetime.” – also says that 80% of college students take on credit card debt in college! That number seems crazy right?
As a person evolves and their financial state changes, their financial understanding needs change. Everyone needs to understand saving, investing, and budgeting from the beginning, but later on in life they can learn about homeownership advice and mortgage counseling. Teaching them certain things early on would be kind of useless.
What are the metrics of success of a financial education program? What does one of these programs look like? How are they similar/different from one another?
“Financial education also benefits the broader economy by making citizens more financially stable. Over the long term, this enhanced financial stability can improve the economic outlook for an entire community and can create new opportunities for businesses, including banks.”
What if financial stability was framed as a community issue, rather than a personal one?
-financial stability advocacy- similar to environmental welfare, community welfare, making the issue beyond oneself? Getting financially literate would then be like learning how to recycle, making sure you are not part of the problem.
