International Forum for Investor Education

National Strategies to Promote Financial Literacy

United States

The U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission, which was established under Title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 in order to, "…improve the financial literacy and education of persons in the United States through (the) development of a national strategy to promote financial literacy and education", announced a national strategy for promoting financial literacy in the United States in early 2006. Prior to publishing its report, the Commission had focused on: (1) encouraging government and private sector efforts to promote financial literacy; (2) coordinating the financial education efforts of the federal government, including the identification and promotion of best practices for financial education; (3) establishing of a website to serve as a clearinghouse and provide a coordinated point of entry for information about federal financial literacy and education programs, grants, and other information; and (4) setting up a toll-free hotline available to members of the public seeking information about issues pertaining to financial literacy and education. The Commission's website can be found at: www.mymoney.gov.

The new national strategy to promote financial literacy in the U.S. has four main components: (1) building public awareness of available resources; (2) developing tailored, targeted materials and dissemination strategies; (3) tapping into public-private and private-private partnerships; and (4) promoting research and evaluation of financial education programs. The strategy is explained in a report issued by the Commission, Taking Ownership of the Future, which provides a detailed overview of many of the programs now in existence in the U.S. to promote financial and investor education. While not a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the different programs, the examples given in the Commission's report will serve as an invaluable resource for providers of financial and investor education in the U.S. and elsewhere. The report includes chapters on work being done to promote higher savings, home ownership, retirement savings, better use of credit, consumer protection, taxpayer rights, investor protection, services for the unbanked, provide targeted financial education services for multilingual/multicultural populations, promote financial education in schools as well as academic research and program evaluation. The report also discusses coordination efforts to promote financial and investor education in the U.S. and international efforts to promote financial and investor education. The Commission's complete report can be found at: www.mymoney.gov/ownership.pdf.