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Program Element 11 - Financial literacy education

Financial literacy education

 

What is financial literacy education?

 

The financial literacy education program element includes activities which:
(a) Support the ability of participants to create budgets, initiate checking and savings accounts at banks, and make informed financial decisions;

(b) Support participants in learning how to effectively manage spending, credit, and debt, including student loans, consumer credit, and credit cards;

(c) Teach participants about the significance of credit reports and credit scores; what their rights are regarding their credit and financial information; how to determine the accuracy of a credit report and how to correct inaccuracies; and how to improve or maintain good credit;

(d) Support a participant’s ability to understand, evaluate, and compare financial products, services, and opportunities and to make informed financial decisions;

(e) Educate participants about identity theft, ways to protect themselves from identify theft, and how to resolve cases of identity theft and in other ways understand their rights and protections related to personal identity and financial data;

(f) Support activities that address the particular financial literacy needs of non‐English speakers, including providing the support through the development and distribution of multilingual financial literacy and education materials;

(g) Provide financial education that is age appropriate, timely, and provides opportunities to put lessons into practice, such as by access to safe and affordable financial products that enable money management and savings; and

(h) Implement other approaches to help participants gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to make informed financial decisions that enable them to attain greater financial health and stability by using high quality, age appropriate, and relevant strategies and channels, including, where possible, timely and customized information, guidance, tools, and instruction.

Examples of Qualifying Activities

- Creating budgets

- Setting up checking and saving accounts

- Managing spending, credit, and debt

- Understanding credit reports and credit scores, and protecting against identify theft

Examples of Non‐Qualifying Activities

- Activities that do not provide youth with the knowledge and skills that they need to achieve long-term financial stability.