Managing Your Debt With Education

“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.”- Whitney Young, Jr.

Do you want to learn how to manage your finances better?

In title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, the Financial Literacy and Education was established, for the purpose of educating consumers on financial matters such as budgeting, credit, financial planning and other important issues.

http://www.mymoney.gov/ is the website the United States Government has put together to teach all Americans the basics of financial education. The resources available can help a consumer get the information needed from twenty federal agencies government wide.

Featured agencies include the Federal Reserve, FDIC, The Small Business Administration, The Department of Labor and many other federally funded government agencies that provide resources and information that will educate consumers about key financial issues.

“Money shouldn’t drive your future. Neither should debt” claims http://www.feedthepig.org/, a website hosted by Benjamin Banks, whose weekly email newsletter provides money saving tips and other financial strategies. Their sister website http://www.360financialliteracy.org/ provides a state by state listing of financial literacy programs available.

The Jumpstart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy http://www.jumpstart.org/ is a wealth of information about personal finances, whose mission statement reads:

“JumpStart is a national coalition of organizations dedicated to improving the financial literacy of kindergarten through college-age youth by providing advocacy, research, standards and educational resources. JumpStart strives to prepare youth for life-long successful financial decision-making.”

It’s high time that someone has finally realized that this education is needed in our children. The credit card companies are targeting a younger market, some even in high school, for their credit card programs. The problem arises when the young card holder has no knowledge or experience in how to use their newfound money without getting in trouble. College students are now using their credit cards to help cover the cost of tuition.

“The average student who graduates from high school lacks the basic skills in managing of personal financial affairs. Many are unable to balance a checkbook and most simply have no insight into the basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing.”
The National Endowment for Financial Education http://www.nefe.org/ is a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist Americans acquire the information necessary to “take control” of their finances. The website is composed of four distinct areas including; education programs, collaborative programs, multimedia access and innovative thinking.

Financial education is vitally important in today’s society with credit offers becoming more complex and the credit card marketing campaigns becoming more aggressive. Unfortunately, there is no standardized program that can be taught in schools, but even if there was, that would only address part of the problem. Adults, beyond the age of student, are now accustomed to the buy now, pay later lifestyle. The current economic conditions are forcing families to use credit cards to help pay living expenses and our children are not having a good example set for them. They need to be taught the value of money and the importance of personal financial education.
There is a growing number of websites and organizations that are addressing financial literacy and education. It will take the desire and willingness to learn and to face your financial problems head on to change the course of your life to become debt free and to make sound financial decisions based on education.

Through these types of educational programs, consumers will continue to gain important financial information. It is up to the consumer to become educated about their finances and to locate the financial literacy programs available.