April is Financial Literacy month throughout the United States and rest of the world.
Many of you who are reading this article at this moment may not understand what financial literacy is. Believe it or not, that is okay because financial literacy is the not like your basic math, reading, or writing that you learned in school. Simply put, financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works through managing it, investing it, earning more of it, and properly spending it.
In my opinion, financial literacy is a topic that seems to elude many people in society today because our education system does not see it as an important subject to teach. Think about this for a moment: we teach all kinds of subjects in schools, except personal finance, money and its importance, and basic economics. While I am sure there are schools out there that do teach these topics at the middle and high school levels, it appears more and more opt not to do so. Without these vital life skills, we are dooming future generations who will have little knowledge of investing, saving, and banking.
According to a 2013 survey, 76 percent of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. Part of the problem stems from a lack of financial literacy in understanding the importance of saving and augmenting one’s paycheck.
Now, I want to make it very clear that you are never too young or old improve your financial literacy and personal finance skills. In fact, there are some straightforward and simple ways that you can start improving your personal finance and money skills today. First, take the time to make a budget each month of your finances. Determine how much money you earn, how much of it you are spending and how much you are spending on a monthly basis. Budgeting simplifies your life tremendously and allows you to see your cash flows—where your money came from (earnings) and where it went (savings and expenses).
Second – and this is a crucial step – line up all of your expenses and debts that you know will occur during this month. This includes electric bills, car payments, rent, credit cards, student loans, et cetera. By outlining your total income for the month and how much you spend, you will be able to determine how much money you have left over at the end of each month.
Finally, read various websites and books for advice on how to manage, invest, and save your money. Your local library has a plethora of books from financial gurus and there are plenty of websites on the web that offer countless information. For me personally, two resources that have taught me tremendously are:
- Learn to Earn: A Beginner’s Guide To The Basics Of Investing And Business
- Financial Literary Month
Both of these resources have taught me life skills in regards to money, saving, and investing that I would never have learned anywhere else.
Understanding finances and investing is fun, interesting and extremely rewarding once the basic skills are mastered. For many individuals, they do not realize their mistake of not taking charge of their personal finances until a massive amount of debt is hanging on their backs like a dead weight or when they realize their golden years of retirement will be spent waiting for their monthly social security check.
Learning personal finance, money, and investing skills will set you up for prosperity and success for the rest of your life. So, are you financially literate?
