April is National Financial Literacy Month!
The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy defines it as, “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.”
In other words, financial literacy is knowing how money works and learning how to make that money work for you.
Why is this important?
Whenever money is involved, things can get a little stressful. From due dates, to handling debt, to researching credit cards; it all seems overwhelming. Understanding how your finances work can help to alleviate this stress and helps you embrace whatever financial situation you’re in.
Financial literacy is important because you learn how to manage your money more efficiently in order to successfully accomplish your goals.
As you begin to learn more about your personal finances, you’ll start to realize that financial literacy can benefit you in multiple aspects of your life. Whether you’re a student struggling to manage student loans, a working professional struggling to maintain a budget, a young couple struggling to provide for a new family, saving for a child’s education, or preparing for retirement; being financially literate prepares you for any financial hardship. Ignoring the financial world and how it affects you, would be putting yourself at a disadvantage of obtaining financial success. Don’t sell yourself short!
Now what?
Now that you know what financial literacy is, it’s never too late to start learning! Even if you consider yourself to already be financially literate, there’s always new things to discover. Here is a list of things you can do to dive back into the financial world and improve your financial literacy:
- Read magazines, newspapers, and blogs on finance
- Listen to financial podcasts
- Take a finance course
- Use government resources on personal finance
- Sit down and write out a budget
- Change your mindset regarding spending – Save, save, save!
This month, I encourage you to see if there are any specific financial challenges you’re struggling with. Don’t be intimidated by money talk. You are more than capable of achieving financial freedom and the first step is becoming financially literate!