Workgroup Leaders:

Ray Forgue, Community Leader
Richard Heine, Facilitator
Lisa Deffendall, Project Coordinator
Michele Reynolds, Staff Leader
Ronni Tallent, Staff Leader

Why Consider Financial Literacy?

• Financial literacy is lacking in most young adults today. Many projects, organizations and coalitions have formed to address financial literacy and how it affects our kids.
• "The average student who graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the management of personal financial affairs. Many are unable to balance a checkbook and most simply have no insight into the basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing.
  
  Many young people fail in the management of their first consumer credit experience, establish bad financial management habits, and stumble through their lives learning by trial and error. The Coalition's direct objective is to encourage curriculum enrichment to ensure that basic personal financial management skills are attained during the K-12 educational experience." From www.jumpstart.org, the website of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.
• "Every day, consumers spend money – or do something that involves money – whether it is balancing a checking account; shopping for a mortgage or auto loan; researching ways to pay for a college education; checking credit card statements; putting money away for retirement; understanding a credit report; or simply deciding whether to pay cash or charge a purchase...the list goes on and on." From www.mymoney.gov, "the Federal Government's website dedicated to helping Americans understand more about their money – how to save it, invest it, and manage it to meet your personal goals."