News Release

Contact Information

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 24, 2003

Contact Rebecca Reid at 202-342-2922

Lack of Financial Literacy Among Youth Alarming But Not Hopeless

Americans for Consumer Education and Competition Offers Solutions

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 24,2003) -Young adults are the fastest growing and largest category of bankruptcies in the U.S, according to Susan Molinari, national chairperson of Americans for Consumer Education and Competition, an advocacy group fostering consumer education and financial literacy. Equally disturbing, a national “financial literacy test” survey of high school seniors found that, with the exception of those enrolled in a personal finance class, not one senior passed the test.

Faced with these alarming facts, Molinari, a former Congresswoman who served on the House Budget and Education Committee, is working hard to improve financial literacy among teenagers and young adults. “Those kinds of statistics say one thing to me and that is young people must be educated at an early age about how to become financially responsible adults,” says Molinari. See www.acecusa.org.

“To avoid financial pitfalls, young people must be taught the importance of developing a realistic budget and then tracking their money. And one of the best tools to aid in both of these goals is the prudent usage of a debit card,” advises Molinari.

As debit cards have become more widely used and accepted, Molinari states that she is impressed with their ability to help people stay on track budget-wise. Just as a person would when he or she writes a check, debit card purchases are tracked in a checkbook register. By keeping this daily record, debit cards make consumers much more conscious of how much they’ve bought and what it was spent on.

Using a debit card for everyday purchases means people don’t have to carry as much cash. After all, anyone can spend lost or stolen cash, but if a debit card is lost or stolen, the consumer is generally protected against fraudulent use. However, since policies vary among financial institutions, be sure to check with the one that issued the card to understand its policies.

Since the debit card is tied to a person’s checking account, it helps enforce the daily routine of tracking where and how money is spent. 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 you can only spend what you’ve got with debit cards, which will help lots of people stay out of debt.

For more information on the benefits of debit cards visit ACEC’s web site at www.acecusa.org.

Note to Editors:
Interviews with Ms. Molinari are available upon request. For additional information contact: Rebecca Reid at reidconsulting@comcast.net or call 202-342-2922.