Spreading Financial Literacy

The Financial Planning Association and Junior Achievement Worldwide have joined forces to provide educational programs that help improve the financial literacy of America's youth. According to the FPA, recent surveys such as the one conducted bi-annually by The JumpStart Coalition, indicate that young people desperately need financial literacy instruction. Participants in JumpStart's 2006 survey answered only slightly more than half the questions correctly on average when asked basic questions about financial literacy.

"FPA recognizes the importance of learning financial responsibility at a young age. By teaching healthy financial habits to children, we hope to ensure they grow up understanding what type of impact their financial decisions have," said Marvin Tuttle, executive director/CEO of FPA, in a statement. "Joining together with Junior Achievement will help us address specific needs of children in different communities across the nation."

As part of the Junior Achievement/FPA partnership, FPA will provide volunteers from its network to teach kids the financial planning process, their role in the economy, and the importance of education to their success in life. Junior Achievement will provide the training, program materials, and support, and match FPA volunteers with local schools requesting the programs.