via CNBC:
- Policy experts, economists, business people and teachers are debating the extent to which personal finance education can turn around the fact that so many Americans are one emergency away from financial disaster.
- At the same time, the ways in which people think about how we can become financially better off are increasing and evolving.
WHEN PARTS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWNtoward the end of last year, many Americans went without a paycheck or two. Crisis followed.
A tax examiner for the IRS couldn’t afford to pick up his insulin prescription. A geologist for the Department of Interior was left with just $33. Some workers had to take on temporary jobs.
For a large swath of America, it was probably not a surprise that so many people became so vulnerable, so quickly. If their income was put on pause, or an unforeseen expense dropped into their lives, they’d be in a similar bind. Forty percent of people in the U.S. don’t have $400 set aside for an emergency, according to the Federal Reserve. Additionally, 25 percent of Americans have nothing saved for retirement.
APRIL IS FINANCIAL LITERACY MONTH, and policy experts, economists, business people and teachers are debating the extent to which personal finance education can reverse these grim statistics. Meanwhile, the ways in which people think about how we can become financially well are increasing and evolving.