Youth financial literacy: The foundation of a successful financial future
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I’m sure we’ve all heard it before. The old saying simply describes how difficult it can be to change someone’s established behaviors. Want to learn to speak French at age 40? Good luck. Want to learn how to play the piano even though you’ve never touched a key? Good luck.
Learning major skills such as speaking a foreign language or playing a musical instrument become more challenging as we age because those behaviors weren’t established in our brains when we were young. So when it comes to learning critical financial literacy skills, do we in the credit union industry just tell adults “good luck” and hope they figure it out? No. We make teaching financial literacy at a young age a priority. Here’s why…
A failing grade…
According to the National Financial Educators Council, the average score that children between the ages of 10 and 14 receive on the national financial literacy test is a 55%. That’s a failing grade – a big red “F” with a circle around it.
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