America’s crisis point in financial literacy

Donny Wise: Opinion/Analysis: Reading Literacy in America is essential to survive in society and the consequence of illiteracy to individuals and society is grave in relation to the potential of being trapped in poverty amongst other possibilities including worse outcomes including criminal behavior and homelessness. The impact on society is compounded when illiteracy influences a significant segment of the population, and the result is the probability the system will be responsible via many avenue of government services to support and maintain the individual because of being illiterate. Reading Literacy is essential to be functional in American society, but our modern society requires more than Reading Literacy, Writing, or Arithmetic to be functional in the mainstream of American society. The additional requirement is Financial Literacy, and the reality is that America is facing a Financial Ignorance crisis on an issue with the impact on an individual spans from the cradle to the grave.

In America, 73 Million Americans live without access to Mainstream Financial Services, and the adult population is around 280 Million as of the 2010 Census. One in four Americans do not have access to Financial Services in America, and this figure does not provide the same shock value if the statement was one in four Americans are reading illiterate. The financial literacy crisis point is now as the credit crisis brought this issue to service in American society. The danger in financial ignorance is grave to the quality of life in society, personal freedoms, and future economic growth. The consumer is end user of the financial world, but the financial world does not provide a business, regulatory, or education environment that is consumer centric. The reality is that personal finance impacts human existence from the date of birth until the end of life, and the attitude in society is that personal finance is taught as tribal knowledge from family, friends, or significant other.

As a result, the financial literacy is non-existent in American society, the negative implications are affecting all income and education levels as the current recession, job market, housing crisis, and foreclosure fiasco has brought crisis to many American households. Financial Literacy is a starting point to make our consumers into captains of personal financial destiny, but Financial Literacy must begin as part of the elementary education experience. The American education system does not provide a widespread curriculum on Financial Literacy. The American education system is falling behind other industrialized nations, and this failure of the education system ponders many in America. How can the American education system be an excellent system of learning when the system is unable to recognize Financial Literacy as a pinnacle part of learning in America?

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