We all make mistakes. That’s part of what makes us human. When we can, we learn from our mistakes. That’s why we at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau want to understand more about the most common errors consumers make about money. We want to find better ways to help others avoid these mistakes in the [...]
Author archive: Dan Rutherford
Taking your kids to work is a great time to talk about money
My kids were so excited when I asked them if they wanted to come to work with me today. At ages 6 and 9, this will be their first Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The CFPB is focused on consumer financial products and services, so we are using today to teach our children about personal finances – our theme is Spend Save Share.
This is also a good opportunity for all parents to teach their children a little something about money. It’s a chance to talk about how parents work for money, and how our salaries give us a limited amount of money to spend every month. Parents can also talk about how they have to use some of that money to pay for the family’s needs, like food, clothing and shelter, and how we might have to save for other things we want.
CFPB promotes Financial Literacy Month
April is Financial Literacy Month, and we are teaming up with other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to promote financial education.
We recently launched Ask CFPB, a search tool to help you find plain-language answers to your questions about credit cards, mortgages, credit scores, and more.
We’ll also be on the road a lot this month. Check out our blog to learn more.
Five ways to keep more of your tax refund
About 75 percent of taxpayers are expected to receive a federal income tax refund this year. If you’re one of them, here are five ways to help you keep more of the money you’re getting back from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Plan your spending to avoid holiday debt
For shoppers, seeing “November” on the calendar means Black Friday – the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season – is just around the corner. Taking a few minutes now to plan your holiday spending could help you avoid taking on debt that stretches well beyond the New Year.