Why Is It Important?
The short answer is: everyone at high levels of government. The reason is
that the nation's fiscal house is in great disarray, especially as it
pertains to the financial health of taxpayers, their spending power (which
is what drives the American economy) and the large looming financial burden
of Social Security and Medicare in the coming future.
To illustrate the concern within the government, here are some examples of
those agencies and departments that have weighed in on the subject:
The White House: |  |
| The President makes a proclamation about Financial Literacy:
HERE |
| The full text of the proclamation can also be seen on this site:
HERE |
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John Snow, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Selected to Head
New Financial Literacy and Education Commission
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| The inaugural meeting of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission
HERE |
The FDIC Establishes Financial Literacy
Website Course Called "Money Smart" |
 |
| See the online course
HERE
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The government is concerned about the "negative savings rate" among American taxpayers,
meaning that most wage-earners are not saving for their future, and that they are
financing a lot of purchases through borrowing from credit cards or taking out equity
loans on their primary home. This equates to "living beyond one's means" and cannot
be sustained forever. Unfortunately, the Federal government sets a poor example by
spending more money than it takes in from taxation.
The government is launching a large effort to educate wage-earners about credit,
about savings, about retirement planning and investments.
All the articles on this website will be addressing the same issues in some detail.
However, before you start to learn what you need to learn, take a quick "Financial
Literacy quiz", which will give you some idea of your present level of knowledge
on the subject. Take the quiz
HERE (this was published by the
Washington Post newspaper and is copyrighted by them; the answers will appear
in a new popup box when you have completed the test and click on "answers"),
then come back and continue reading the articles.
The next article in this series starts you out with the "basics". What do you need
to know about your personal financial matters to start making good decisions? Start
with this very basic article on how money flows into and out of your life
HERE.
Return to the Contents by clicking on a link below:
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