07 – 10 – 19 9:26 PM

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ES_20181001_Financial-Literacy-
Recommendations.pdf

https://www.allbusiness.com/10-ways-improve-financial-literacy-20577-1.html

10 Ways to Improve Your Financial

Literacy
By AllBusiness Editors | In: Personal Finance

If you think of yourself as financially illiterate, you are not alone. Many people struggle with
knowing how to manage personal finances, reduce debt, decipher the stock market, and save
for retirement. Luckily, today there are many resources at your fingertips to help improve your
knowledge about making financial decisions.
Becoming financially literate does not happen overnight, nor is it accomplished by reading just
one book. It happens through education, practical experience, and life lessons. Here are the top
10 ways to help improve your financial literacy:

1. Start Now
It is never too late to improve your knowledge about financial matters. Increase your knowledge
about investing, estate planning, social security, how credit cards work, credit scores, saving for
the future, social security, real estate, insurance, retirement, and taxes. Tackle one topic at a
time. Start with the one you are most interested in learning and begin to build a solid
foundation of financial know-how.

2. Use Abundant Resources from the U.S.

Government
The U.S. government is making an effort to see that its citizens have more opportunities to learn
about personal finances. Congress has even declared April “Financial Literacy Month,” and the
private and public sectors offer programs and events around the topic. Check out the following
government websites:
 Financial Literacy and Education Commission is affiliated with the U.S. Treasury
Department, and its mission is to improve financial literacy by coordinating efforts
between the public and private sectors.
 MyMoney.gov is dedicated to teaching the basics about financial education. You can find
advice on subjects like buying a home, balancing a checkbook, or investing in a 401(k).
3. Read Newspapers and Magazines
Read newspapers and magazines geared toward money matters:
 Begin to read the financial section of your local/regional newspaper.
 Read finance and business newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and The Financial
Times. Both provide insight into the domestic and global world of finance and business.
 The Kiplinger Letter remains the longest continually published newsletter in the United
States. In 1947 Kiplinger’s created the nation’s first personal finance magazine.
 Additional magazines to check out are Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Money.

4. Search the Internet

There are many online resources to increase your financial literacy. Many of the cable news
networks have websites with a finance tab. Some educational resources provide tutorials that
can cover single topics.

5. Take a Financial Literacy Class

Take a class at an adult education center, or junior or four-year college, on subjects that will help
you learn how to manage your finances. If you prefer to stay at home, take a course through an
online college. There are also a multitude of self-help books and workbooks that teach finance
and personal money management.

6. Listen to Talk Radio

There are many syndicated (and locally based) radio talk shows that offer financial advice. Learn
from callers’ questions and financial dilemmas. However, be aware that some radio shows are
actually infomercials promoting services or products. Always double check (and triple check)
any financial advice being offered.
National radio shows that offer financial advice include:
 The Dave Ramsey Show
 Moneytalk with Bob Brinker
 Marketplace hosted by Kai Ryssdal
 The Clark Howard Show

7. Purchase Financial Tools

Buy a financial calculator from HP, Texas Instruments, Sharp, Casio, or Canon. A financial
calculator performs functions such as calculating loan payments, interest rates, percentages,
amortization schedules, and cash flow. They also solve time-value-of-money calculations such as
annuities, mortgages, leases, and savings.
8. Start an Investment Club
The purpose of an investment club is to learn about investing in stocks and to make a return on
investments. This is a long-term commitment for a group of ten to fifteen individuals who want
to learn about the stock market through investments in stocks. The National Association of
Investors Corporation is a nonprofit organization that offers investment education and practical
investing experience through investment clubs.

9. Help Your Kids to Learn

Open a savings account and teach your kids how to save. Starting to learn about money
management when young is key to improving financial literacy as an adult. Organizations like
Jump $tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a national coalition of organizations, tries to
improve the financial literacy of K-12 and college students through advocacy, research,
standards, and educational resources.

10. Watch Financial Information TV Offerings

Watch television programs offering financial information. Beware, however, as there are many
infomercials on television touting “get rich quick schemes,” too. A general rule of thumb is if it
sounds easy to make lots of money quickly, then it’s probably an infomercial.
Here are some television channels that offer well known financial programming:
 CNBC TV
 Bloomberg TV
 Nightly Business Report
 The Suze Orman Show
 CNN
 Fox Business News

https://blogs.iadb.org/ideas-matter/en/financial-literacy-programs-can-benefit-both-children-and-
adults/
Financial Literacy Programs Can Benefit Both Children and
Adults
To become an adult without knowing how to manage money is to risk financial instability, debt,
and a meager retirement. Moreover, most evidence suggests it is extremely difficult to change
the financial behavior of adults. They may not have time for financial literacy programs and,
besides, may be too set in their ways.
On the other hand, working with children and teenagers offers the opportunity to intervene at a
stage when they are still forming their habits and developing important socioemotional skills
that lead to more responsible financial behavior. Indeed, governments and non-profits around
the world are increasingly supporting financial literacy training programs designed for younger
people.

Financial education in Peru

In a study of a pilot intervention in Peru, I look at the effects of providing school-based financial
education for high school students. I found that the program increased young people’s financial
knowledge and self-control – with added benefits of higher grades throughout the school
curricula. Most surprising, however, were the changes in adults in charge of delivering the
training: I found that the program significantly changed the financial behavior of teachers – who
received the training and taught the material in their classes. The very exercise of repeating the
material they had learned in their training reinforced their knowledge and led to real
improvements.
The pilot was implemented by the Peruvian government in 2016 in 150 public schools as part of
the country’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy. The intervention involved a 20-hour teacher
training plan and different classes on financial literacy for students in the last three high school
grades. These included a wide range of subjects, covering everything from principles of
investment and opportunity cost, to financial products and services, and consumer information
and protections.
I administered surveys for both teachers and students to explore personality traits and
preferences; looked at exams that tested their financial knowledge and examined administrative
records of student performance at the end of the year to see if the financial training had
affected other aspects of their academic performance.

Students improve their financial literary

I found, as in other studies, that such training had considerable impact on their financial literacy.
Indeed, students participating in the program showed gains in knowledge equivalent to a 14.8-
point improvement on the 2015 PISA financial literacy test for 15-year-olds, half the gap relative
to the next country in the ranking. Moreover, they registered an increase in a key socio-
emotional trait, self-control, which improved by 18% relative to the median in the control
group. Self-control is important for outcomes such as school performance and labor market
success and seems to be related to good financial choices.
How these transformations affect financial behavior is difficult to know since these are still
underage youth without access to the formal financial system. But there were still significant
shifts in shopping and saving habits. As measured by the surveys, the program resulted in a 1.2-
percentage-point increase in the number of students who compared prices before shopping; a
1.3-percentage-point increase in students who saved instead of borrowing to buy something
they couldn’t afford, and a 1.1-percentage-point increase in the number of students who talked
to their parents about household financial decisions.
Students also improved their grades. This was not just in areas like math that one might
associate with finance studies. Participating students registered an average 3% increase in their
grade point average, perhaps because of their improvements in self-control or their exposure to
coursework that they perceived as useful boosted their motivation for all types of school
learning. Moreover, the improvements were achieved very cost-effectively, at a cost of just
US$6.6 per student.

Better savings for teachers

The advances seen in teachers stand out. This may have been related to the way the teachers
learned: they were trained in the full curricula covered in the three grades, exposed to the
relatively simple and easily accessible materials prepared for their students, and then allowed
to reinforce their knowledge in the process of teaching the material. This intensity of learning
clearly made them an unusual subset of adults and yielded impressive results. Among teachers
who participated in the program, the probability of saving through the formal financial system
rose 14 percentage points.
Universal financial access is acknowledged as a pillar of global development. Despite some
improvements, the percentage of people in Latin America and the Caribbean who borrow from
a financial institution is very low, at 9.6%. Moreover, as revealed in our 2016 flagship report,
private saving rates stand at 14.7%, just above those of sub-Saharan Africa, and far below those
of emerging Asia, at 25.8%. All of this affects a region which has suffered from low growth in
recent decades with inadequate investment, productivity and other elements of dynamic
economies.
Young adults between 15 and 24 tend to be particularly marginalized from the formal financial
market. Today’s young adults are tomorrow’s adults. Hence, focusing on improving their
financial literacy, providing them with adequate, formal savings products, and nurturing healthy
savings habits may foster financial inclusion and provide society-wide benefits well into the
future. As we show, even the financial behavior of adults can be changed. But the focus on
young people is critical.
9:32 PM

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/04/17/11-simple-ways-to-improve-your-
financial-literacy-as-a-business-owner/#29b50174194e

Unless you've started a financial services firm, accounting probably isn't your
strongest skill. And, yet, understanding finances -- cash flow, budget projections,
profit and loss, etc. -- is essential to understanding the overall health of your
business. That's why every business owner should make financial literacy a priority in
their continuing education.
You don't have to earn a finance degree or pass a CPA exam, though. You just need to
build a solid knowledge base about business finances so you can easily communicate
with and understand your accountant and/or financial advisor. Here are 11 easy
strategies recommended by members of Forbes Finance Council.
1. Prioritize succession planning.
An important part of running your business is also having a succession or contingency
plan if something happens to you or your partner(s). Sitting down with a Certified
Financial Planner (CFP®) can help you address these gaps in your business plan. At
the same time, you can take advantage of working with a CFP to ask questions and
become more financially literate. - Amir Eyal, Mylestone Plans LLC
2. Curate a financial advisory team.
Develop a team made up of a CPA, an attorney (business and/or trust and estate), a
life insurance advisor, a P&C advisor and an investment advisor. Meet with the entire
team at least once a year to make sure everyone understands the master plan, and
that the team is completely coordinated and transparent. - Michael Seltzer, Verite
Group, LLC

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3. Focus on your cash flow statement.
The cash flow statement is the lifeblood of any business. It shows where the money is
coming from, where it is going and how much. Some of the brightest business people
I've met do not understand debits, credits and basic accounting. However, when they
discuss their business's performance, they nearly all describe a cash flow statement
in layman's terms. - Rob Gabridge, Tarfis Wealth Management
4. Ask your accountant questions.
Accountants often provide reports and statements with the assumption that business
owners understand the intricate details of how these reports are compiled. They are
terrific resources for business owners to get one-on-one training and advice. Don't be
afraid to spend time with your accountant and ask as many questions as possible. -
Moe Adham, Bitaccess Inc.
5. Track your accounts in real time.
Too many business owners focus on getting their books in order once a year when tax
season comes. Today’s accounting software, such as Quickbooks, makes it easy to
sync banking transactions in real time, taking much of the drudgery out of keeping
accurate records. Make use of the wide assortment of reporting options available to
provide accurate snapshots of your business’s financials. - Ismael Wrixen, FE
International
6. Connect with a local CFO firm.
CPAs are super helpful, but remember they are the auditors and tax people. Instead,
CFO firms have accountants, controllers and CFOs who run accounting for companies
and explain the meaning of the financials for business owners. Strike up a
relationship with a CFO firm, as they'll share how they can help you, but they'll also
educate you a lot along the way. - Chris Schwalbach, AVL Growth Partners
7. Compare financials with peers.
Business owners can vastly improve their financial literacy by comparing their
financials with those of a respected peer business owner in their industry. Few things
are more valuable than learning from a successful peer or group of peers. Comparing
financials is a great way to do this. - Levi Morehouse, Ceterus
8. Don't let your CPA gloss over complicated financial details.
Many business owners rely on CPAs for financials. CPAs have tons of specific,
nuanced knowledge, and when asked to explain a figure, some may try to shield you
from the gory details with, "It's complicated." When you review the numbers with
them, ask them to explain it to you like they would to a fifth grader. Do this for a year,
and you'll be amazed at how well you understand your financials. - Atish Davda,
EquityZen
9. Use data aggregation apps.
Use a free data aggregation app that lets you understand where your financial health
stands (cash flow, credit, etc.). Small business owners have unique needs, so use an
app specifically designed for small business. The good ones have struck a nice
balance between using AI to make recommendations and educational context, so you
can make smarter decisions and learn along the way. - Greg Ott, Nav Inc
Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful
accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
10. Take a basic accounting course.
Establishing a firm understanding of accounting will support financial literacy. This
will empower the business owner to effectively interpret their financial statements
and take action accordingly. No need to sit for the CPA exam; rather, simply enroll in a
beginner/intermediate accounting course. As a bonus, these efforts will aid in
establishing internal controls for the business. - Collin Greene, ShipHawk
11. Review financial statements monthly.
Sit down with an accountant or CPA each month to review your statements. Ask why
certain expenses are categorized the way they are, why certain expenses don't show
up on the profit and loss statement but rather the balance sheet, and to explain the
balance sheet in more detail. Last, discuss the difference in reporting of the financial
statements with cash versus accrual accounting methods. - David Gass, Anderson
Business Advisors, LLC