News Release

Contact Information

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 16, 2003

Contact Rebecca Reid at 202-342-2922

ACEC National Chairperson Susan Molinari Promotes Teaching Children Personal Finance Skills and Tools

April Is Financial Literacy Month

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 16, 2003) – April 2003 has been designated as Financial Literacy Month by a number of consumer and financial education groups across the nation. During this month, many educators are teaching special classes on how to manage money, and financial professionals are visiting classrooms to teach children the basics of personal finance.

This effort is sorely needed. According to Susan Molinari, National Chairperson of Americans for Consumer Education and Competition (ACEC) and a former Congresswoman from New York, “Americans have reached an all-time low in savings levels, and financial literacy among high school seniors continues to drop. The issue of financial literacy and responsibility in America requires serious attention and much dialogue.”

The statistics are alarming. A national survey of high school seniors entitled America’s Money Skills Report Card, unveiled by ACEC, shows that every senior, except for those already enrolled in a personal finance class, failed. This same report reveals that young adults are the fastest growing and largest category of bankruptcies in the U.S. In addition, figures from the U.S. Treasury Department show that home foreclosures are now at their highest in 30 years, and people are saving less than 3 percent of their paychecks, down from 7 1/2 percent in the ‘80s.

Luckily, as disturbing as these facts are, they have not gone unnoticed. On Jan. 8, 2002, President Bush signed a new education bill called, “No Child Left Behind,” heavily lobbied for by ACEC, which calls for $3 billion to be distributed to state school boards for new courses, including – for the first time – a class on personal finance.

“This is a significant stride in the right direction,” said Molinari. “Now ACEC can work with state legislatures and educators to develop program curricula to address this escalating problem.”

As heartening as it is to see so many states participating in this month-long event, it is important to realize that teaching young people how to manage their finances is an ongoing effort. To avoid financial pitfalls, young people must be taught the importance of developing a realistic budget and then tracking their money. And ACEC feels that one of the best tools to aid in both of these goals is the prudent usage of a debit card.

“As debit cards have become more widely used and accepted,” Molinari said, “I’ve been impressed with their ability to help people stay on track budget-wise. Since purchases are paid directly from a checking account, a person can only spend what he or she has; debts aren’t accumulated that have to be repaid later.”

Although debit cards are only one tool toward acquiring financial responsibility, they offer a great way to learn sensible budgeting habits, tracking skills and the discipline to spend money wisely. The bottom line is that people can only spend what they’ve got with debit cards, which will help lots of them stay out of debt. And debit cards are accepted everywhere credit cards are accepted.

ACEC is the nation’s leader in the pursuit of financial literacy for America’s youth and advocate of consumer education and competition in the marketplace. For more information on ACEC, log onto their website at www.acecusa.org.