Americans Need Financial Literacy Right Now

Today is the last day for Americans to do their personal income taxes - or rather, the second to last day. For many people, their attention is on their personal finances right now as they plan to use the refund they are (hopefully) getting.

Most Americans receive absolutely no training in how to manage their personal finances, and the consequences are disturbing. Consider these alarming statistics:

• Americans now save, on average, less than 1% of their incomes, and the savings rate has been in almost continuous decline for more than two decades.
• Only 59% of the young adults in Generation Y (ages18-29) pay their bills on time every month.
• One in every 10 Americans with a mortgage reports being late or missing a mortgage payment in the last year.

Source: http://www.jumpstartcoalition.org/upload/Making%20the%20Case%202009.doc
• 40% of Americans admit to living beyond their means.
• Between 25 million and 56 million adults are unbanked (i.e. not using mainstream, insured financial institutions.)
• The average household with debt carries approximately $10,000 to $12,000 in total revolving debt and has 9 credit cards.
• 50.8% of college-age adults agree with this statement: "I have experienced repeated, unsuccessful attempts to control, cut back or stop excessive money use."
Source: http://www.dfi.wa.gov/consumers/financial_literacy_stats.htm

Many people simply have no insight into how their financial situation is created by their behavior. In view of the above, President Obama has proclaimed April as National Financial Literacy Month. http://www.jumpstartcoalition.org/upload/presidentialproclamation.pdf

Most state do not currently mandate a course specifically dedicated to Personal Finance Education in grades K through 12. To see if your state mandates financial literacy, check out the Jump Start Coalition’s page at http://www.jumpstart.org/state_legislation/index.cfm?stnm=New%20York#stateinfo

Now is the time for all high school and college students to learn personal financial management. It is not too late for adults to learn after they leave school – many adult education programs carry a personal finance course and basic information is available on the web.

Creativity for the 21st Century

To be creative is to think differently than others. To think differently, it helps to have new and different inspirations. Exposure to fine art, whether traditional or modern, gives your child an alternative to the pop art that is everywhere in our culture. We are not against mainstream or pop art. We just look to expose our kids to a wider variety of art in order to spur them to be more creative. We believe that if a person reads the same books, sees the same movies, plays the same games, watches the same TV shows, and takes the same vacations as everyone else, they will be more likely to think like everyone else and may be limited in their creativity. Exposure to new and different ideas - in art and other areas - helps people think “out of the box”. This can mean watching a foreign film, listening to a new type of music, reading a great book that is not on any best seller list, or visiting an art museum. When we have different references to draw upon, we come up with different ideas. We expect creativity to be a highly valued quality in the 21st century as the world changes at an increasingly faster pace.

According to a poll from National Geographic, many younger Americans are still lacking in their knowledge of geography. "Geographic illiteracy impacts our economic well-being, our relationships with other nations and the environment, and isolates us from our world," said John Fahey, National Geographic Society president and CEO. "Geography is what helps us make sense of our world by showing the connections between people and places. Without geography, our young people are not ready to face the challenges of the increasingly interconnected and competitive world of the 21st century."

How can we help our kids develop a solid foundation in geography? Learning by doing is often the best method of mastering a subject, and geography puzzles are a great way to remember the names, shapes, and locations of US states and foreign countries. The best ones are cut along the state or national borders, and can be found at many specialty toy stores online.