3 Tips To Improve Financial Literacy

If you find yourself struggling to understand compound interest rates, long term financing, debt consolidation, or retirement accounts, you are not alone.  Many people struggle with not only managing their finances, but understanding how different financial products can help to achieve financial goals.  Luckily, there are a number of resources at your fingertips to help improve your financial knowledge and ultimately improve your financial position.  Here are 3 tips to help you improve your financial literacy:

1. Start Now – There is no time like the present to start to gain a deeper understanding of your finances.  With each year that passes, you could be missing simple opportunities, that in time could have a significant impact on your overall financial goals.  Try to tackle one high level topic at a time, such as mortgage, and while you learn about that topic, consider diving deeper into a related topic.  For instance, if you are learning about mortgage, a sub topic might be the difference between a 30-year mortgage and a 15-year mortgage.
2. Use Resources From The Government – Congress has declared April “National Financial Literacy Month.” The Government has made advances over the past 5 years to protect consumers from letting their finances get away from them.  They did this by not only starting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but also by providing more opportunities to learn about personal finances.  Websites such as the Financial Literacy and Education Commission and mymoney.gov, were formed to help improve consumer financial literacy.
3. Work With Your Kids – Learning about money management when you are young will improve financial literacy as an adult.  Perhaps open a savings account to start to learn how you will earn additional money based on your original investment, or visit the Jump Start Coalition For Personal Financial Literacy to learn about additional youth programs.  Stating and verbalizing your financial goals is a great way to hold each other accountable and ultimately achieve your goals together.

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