By Lori Berkes-Nelson M.S.Ed., President, Econ Illinois.

I had not heard the word “economics” until I was in high school, and then it was attached to Consumer Economics and I walked away from that class with an understanding of how to write a check and how to keep a checkbook balanced – both very important skills as I became an adult.  But, what if I had been taught the economic way of thinking from the time I was in kindergarten?  If I had understood “opportunity cost” when I was in grade school or scarcity when I was in high school or compounding interest rates when I graduated college, perhaps I would have been better-prepared to avoid debt. Read more…

POSTED: April 16, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Councils & Centers, economics, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, partners, personal finance, Students

By Tennessee State Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr.

Everyone understands how important education is in our society today. In order to compete for jobs in a global economy, our young people must be well versed in communication, math and science skills.

But even that won’t be enough.

To be successful in their professional and personal lives, people need to be financially literate as well. Sadly, they very often aren’t.

Consider these statistics:

• According to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald and Associates, two-thirds of American workers have saved less than $50,000 toward their retirement – and more than a quarter of them have saved less than $1,000.
• Another survey by Sallie Mae and Gallup indicated that 4-in-10 parents with children younger than 18 haven’t set aside money for college expenses.
• And according to a report by Moebs $ervices Inc., 87 percent of Americans don’t even balance their checkbooks. Read more…

POSTED: April 15, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, Government, personal finance, Research, Students, teachers, training

By Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management, Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

The phrase “financial illiteracy” describes the widespread inability of many Americans to understand key financial concepts and manage their personal finances wisely. It is costly to both individuals and society. The total price tag can be tallied in many ways: Forgone savings and investment opportunities, lives shattered by financial loss or bankruptcy, higher prices than necessary paid for goods and services, dreams and aspirations that go unfulfilled, and marital discord about money. The collective loss in dollars resulting from common financial errors just has to be tremendous. Read more…

POSTED: April 12, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Credit Cards, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, grants, personal finance, Research

Dr. Scott Niederjohn, Director of the Lakeland College Center for Economic Education in Sheboygan, WI, has been selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for a Fulbright award to Luxembourg.

He has received countless awards over the years for his work in economic education and has been an EconomicsWisconsin Center Director since 2005.

Our sincerest congratulations go to Dr. Niederjohn for this prestigious honor.

POSTED: April 11, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Awards, Councils & Centers, Fulbright, scholarship

By Mike Periu, President, Proximo, Inc.; CEE Board Member.

My wife and I went out to dinner the other night with our three lovely daughters who are six, three and almost two years of age respectively.  While eating at this family restaurant, I noticed something that – unfortunately – is no longer that unusual; we were one of the few adults that had children and the only ones with more than two. I half-jokingly told my wife “I wonder how much our daughters will have to pay in taxes to support so many future retirees.”

My family is from Cuba and my wife is from Nicaragua, and like other Latinos, we have a large family.  According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the fertility rate for Hispanic women in the U.S. is 2.35, far above the replacement rate of 2.1 and significantly higher than the 1.6 experienced by Non-Hispanic, white women.  What this means is that our country’s population will be increasingly composed of and influenced by Latinos.  The country’s overall standard of living in a few decades will be largely defined by the financial and economic performance of Latinos. Read more…

POSTED: April 11, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: CEE Board, entrepreneurship, family, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, income, Latinos, personal finance

By Dan Kadlec, author and journalist.

I’d like to think the cavalry is coming. But it isn’t—not quickly enough, anyway. For all the lip service to financial education and well-intentioned research surrounding what works best when it comes to teaching young people about money, much too little instruction is actually taking place. In plain view, the next generation is growing up as financially inept as the last.

Financial illiteracy brought us the Great Recession. Individuals had taken on crushing credit card debt, renounced the concept of an emergency fund and inked mortgages that made no sense. Sure, bankers were complicit. But that’s all the more reason to get serious about raising the public’s financial I.Q. Read more…

POSTED: April 10, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, National Standards for Financial Literacy, partners, personal finance, Students, Survey of the States