Financial Literacy Resources

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Financial illiteracy affects a vast array of Americans today. Many people—both college-educated adults and the historically underserved—have trouble with credit and debt, ultimately leading to bankruptcy or poor credit ratings. Many spend more than they make in a typical year as they utilize readily available credit cards to make ends meet, ultimately increasing debt. Financial literacy can be defined as the ability to effectively manage one's finances to make sensible decisions toward achieving financial self-sufficiency and reaching life goals. Being financially literate helps prevent individuals from being exploited by predatory lenders, questionable investments, and outrageous interest rates, and allows people to meet their basic needs.

Given the prevalence of the cycle of poverty among the population served by the Neighborhood Networks centers, several centers have incorporated financial literacy workshops into their programming. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Grier Park Neighborhood Networks Center held a 1-day workshop in partnership with Bank of America. Residents received information on credit repair, budgeting, buying a house, and financing a business. In Sacramento, California, Foothill Plaza and Folsom Gardens Neighborhood Networks Centers are working with the Valley Initiative for Developing Assets (VIDA) to provide onsite financial education that includes budgeting, credit and debt management, investing, and insurance as well as building assets through Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). To provide incentives to save, VIDA's public and private sponsors provide matching funds: a $3-to-$1 match when residents withdraw money from their IDAs for their first home and a $2-to-$1 match for postsecondary education or starting a small business.

The following links provide information on how your center can provide similar financial literacy programming.

Council for Economic Education
The Council for Economic Education offers comprehensive, best-in-class K-12 economic and personal finance education programs, including the basics of entrepreneurship, consisting of teaching resources across the curriculum, professional development for teachers, and nationally-normed assessment instruments. Each year, the Council's programs reach more than 150,000 K-12 teachers and over 15 million students in the United States and in more than 30 other countries. These programs are delivered through a diversified system: directly from the Council, through a network of affiliated state Councils and university-based Centers for Economic Education, and through other partner organizations.

Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED)
CFED has a standard curriculum for Individual Development Account (IDA) programs. The organization also provides useful information on entrepreneurship and economic development. The Federal Reserve has also begun to develop some financial literacy tools. They provide information on financial education, consumer banking, loans and credit, and several other useful topics. This information can be accessed online.

The listing in the content box on the right is adapted from the National Endowment for Financial Education. The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to helping all Americans acquire the information and gain the skills necessary to take control of their personal finances.