Financial Literacy is BS!
“Financial Literacy is BS… barely sufficient.”
💰 Many folks share common financial goals:
✔️ Save more
✔️ Invest for retirement
✔️ Pay down debt
But do most people know how?
😳 Studies show parents would rather talk to their kids about sex and drugs than talk about finances.
🙋🏼♀️ I certainly didn’t learn about budgeting or investing in school.
Entering adulthood without this fundamental knowledge means making good financial decisions is hard. And the impact of these decisions can have dire, long-term consequences.
Today’s panel at Money20/20 reminded me why the Financial Literacy programming offered at Dress for Success San Francisco/San Jose, an organization I am on the Board of, is so critical to helping our clients build a better stronger financial foundation.
Yes, knowledge is power…but that only goes so far. Knowing what to do and doing it are two different things. I know I could save more, but why is it so hard to do it?
Better financial decision-making isn’t just up to the individual- it is also on financial institutions (and the businesses who cater to them) to make it easier and fairer for their customers to make good decisions.
Ideas:
💡 Presenting information in a simple and actionable way
💡 Offering easy-to-use functions that help people navigate complex processes (e.g. auto-reinvesting dividends)
💡 Even simple shifts to what products are offered- like lowering gift card denominations (why is $25 always the minimum?)
Unfortunately, there are not a lot of incentives to drive that change.
The good news is that innovative companies are doing important work to flip the script in the fintech space! One company Epoch Roots worked with, Promise, is a prime example. Promise is working to improve the way people are able to pay for essential services like utilities through innovative software. Their goal is to modernize and humanize interactions between governments and the people they serve.
To learn more about the work Epoch Roots did for Promise, click here.
