Nerdwallet – Emily Starbuck Crone
“As April – National Financial Literacy Month – comes to a close, some may puzzle over why so many Americans struggle when it comes to managing their money. After all, there are countless programs available to help them free of charge. Yet most of these efforts don’t produce long-term results. The evidence can be seen in the millions of people pursued by bill collectors, stuck in debt traps or mired in other avoidable situations each year. The reasons range from inadequate saving, overspending and abusing credit to simply living without a budget. So what’s wrong with the nation’s approach to Fin Lit education and how can it be fixed? Critics fault established programs, where they exist, for taking an unemotional approach, skipping over the need for basic math skills and offering little reward for developing good habits. There isn’t a national policy on the issue, and more often than not it’s left to parents to help their kids learn money skills.”(more)