Most educators recognize the importance of teaching financial literacy. However, with so much information out there and lack of resources devoted to professional development,, it is hard to figure out what to teach and how to teach it. We created the NKU summer teaching financial literacy program to help educators teach financial literacy at their school. Join us this summer and connect with a network of passionate educators.

In this financial literacy series, I have kinda done this backwards. Start with thinking long term, but your long term goals start with meeting short term goals. The short term goal that we all can start today is developing a budget. To me a budget is a plan. It allows me to allocate every dollar I make to where it needs to go. It gives my money a purpose and therefore it makes the cost of spending it in a different way clear to me. In economics we call that the opportunity cost of spending.

College education is getting expensive but based on my experience serving on scholarship committees, there are scholarships that students can receive but do not qualify for because they never filled out the Fafsa. At many universities and colleges, receiving any aid usually requires that you complete the FAFSA first. So even if you think you do not qualify for federal or state aid, make sure to apply so that you can qualify for scholarships at your school.

At the NKU Center for Economic Education, Brooklyn Stephens, senior economics student and I are currently working on a project about financial anxiety. According to our research, 32% of people report feeling like their finances control their life, and 54% report that thinking about their finances makes them feel anxious.

Your first step to any financial plan is to start by taking stock of where you are now so that you can make a plan on where to go next. Today, I'll share some budget tracking methods and some apps that are out there to help you keep track of your spending.

Saving $88 cam help you get to your goals. Watch this video to learn how.

There are several reasons to set aside money. The first money to set aside is for emergencies. The emergency fund is an important part of your financial security. How much and where to save this money is discussed in another video. Today, I want to talk about how much money you want to save for retirement.

As you start your next phase in life, one of the most important topics to learn about is interest rates. Knowing what they are and how they work will make you a better saver, investor, and you will also be able to make better long term decisions.

Telling people to avoid all debt because they may struggle to deal with it does not solve the underlying problem. Debt is not the issue, the real issue is that we are not taught how to properly manage debt.

Learn more about NKU Center for Economic Education’s efforts to increase financial literacy education. We believe that with proper resources and support, educators can be equipped with curriculum that prepares their students to navigate our complex financial markets. Financial Literacy education can help increase economic wellbeing.

Tableau Visualization using newly releases financial literacy education data. Find out which U.S schools are teaching financial literacy and the name of the courses. Data can be viewed by state, zip code, or course type.

In our recent paper, coauthored with Whitney Buser and Darshak Patel, we survey college students and test their financial understanding and math ability to see if there is any relationship between the two. Additionally, we ask students to rate their confidence in their math abilities and construct a math confidence score.