Financial Literacy: What it means and why it matters.

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin 

Financial Literacy has been defined as the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.

We can use financial knowledge to make better decisions. From everyday spending to long-term planning, intentional money management could mean leveraging money or access to it to further your personal and professional goals. 

Improving one’s financial knowledge can start with teaching our children financial basics and continue. 

Important topics for many young adults to evaluate in the framework of improving their financial literacy could be: 

  • Trade-offs between school, work, and money. 
  • What are the traits of a financially literate person in terms of organization, information, and consideration of the future? 
  • Understanding the impact of debt such as college student loan debt and credit card debt. 
  • Real stories of how people find themselves responsible for the unplanned debt. 

For those of us with little financial literacy training, there are many options available to help us make better decisions and to avoid unplanned debts. 

Here are a few resources that, after review, appear to have helpful information and are worth consideration: 

Financial Literacy 101 (https://www.financialliteracy101.org). 

A program founded by Decision Partners. a company that provides programming to teach critical personal finance skills. Decision Partners works with educational, nonprofit, and financial services organizations that offer financial literacy education programs to serve individuals of all ages and backgrounds. 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) (Library Resources):

Provides various links to free resources to learn what allows one to build your own list of financial resources for your personal library including websites, videos, and courses from federal government agencies, national nonprofit organizations, as well as state and local resources that instruct about investing, housing, Servicemembers (those serving in the armed forces), retirement, student loans and more.  

Go to this link: 

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/educator-tools/library-resources/online-resources/. 

CFPB Financial Education Resources for Adults:

Offers worksheets and webinars on auto financing, medical bill challenges, negative credit reporting, and other financial topics. See https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/educator-tools/adult-financial-education/. 

The information provided does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information is for general informational purposes only. This information may not constitute the most up-to-date information. Links provided are only for the convenience of the reader, A. Ferraris Law, PLLC and its members do not endorse the contents of the third-party references. 

Copyright©2022, A. Ferraris Law, PLLC. All Rights Reserved. 

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