According to the website 360financialliteracy.com, which is a site produced by the American Institute of CPA’s, “Financial education is a lifelong endeavor-from children learning about the value of money to adults understanding how to reach a secure retirement.” We whole-heartedly agree with this statement. Why is this such a big deal? According to the most recent information on the U.S. Census Bureau website, as of 2007, 46.1% of American families carried credit card debt in excess of their most recent payment amount, with a median household revolving debt (other than mortgages) of $24,800. The website statisticbrain.com, whose information is claimed to be verified by the Federal Reserve, US Census Bureau, and the IRS, provides some very sobering statistics:
- Percent of working Americans not saving for retirement – 40%
- Percent of American families who have no savings at all – 25%
- Average amount saved for retirement – $35,000
- Percent of American workers who postponed their retirement age this year – 24%
- Percent of American adults who have an emergency fund to fall back on – 38%.
This topic is so much larger than what we can feasibly address here, but we’ll at least touch on some key points. In the next two weeks we will discuss this topic with regards on how to raise financially literate children and also how this relates to the rest of us!
