Pandemic Amplifies Message of Financial Literacy Month

At uncertain times like these, one of the greatest stressors is always the unknown — and that's as true for what we don't know about our financial foundation as it is for anything else. The two retirees described above demonstrate why Financial Literacy Month is so important — because knowing what you have, how you can best manage it, and what type of future you can plan inspires confidence and creates a pathway to certainty.

For most of us, the twin pillars of our personal finances are a regular paycheck and monthly bills. But far too many of us treat these only as an exercise in simple math — the amount of money coming in each month is hopefully a bit larger than the cash leaving. As long as that simple calculus holds, we're on fairly solid footing.

Unfortunately, this view doesn't consider what happens if something unanticipated occurs to affect either the inflow or outflow of cash. According to numerous studies, most Americans have less than $1,000 saved to cover unexpected expenses, the average credit card debt is close to $6,200, and most of us spend far more time on social media than managing our own finances. This is problematic at best for managing through a minor emergency, much less a global pandemic that is shocking even some of our most reliable systems.

So, what can we do? Much like our country and communities are evolving to help prevent the worst potential scenarios posed by COVID-19 and ensure we're on solid footing when the threat finally ends, we can take the necessary steps to increase our personal financial knowledge so we can better manage through financial uncertainty and position ourselves for future success. Or, depending on our personal financial situation, we can help others achieve these goals.

Make this month your opportunity to improve your financial awareness and encourage family members and friends to do the same — there's a wealth of free resources available online. When families begin talking openly about money, it breaks the unfortunate cycle of financial talk being taboo at home and opens the door to generational change in support of good money behaviors — and research shows that what we learn about money as kids becomes what we think is normal as adults — good or bad.

The current crisis we're all experiencing will pass and life will eventually return to some semblance of normality. Don't let the news of the day overshadow the hope Financial Literacy Month represents for a better tomorrow. Use the important lessons learned from this unprecedented event to focus on sound financial education and planning that can pay a lifetime of dividends for you and your loved ones.

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Aimee DeCamillo is chief commercial officer of Jackson Holdings LLC and president of Jackson National Life Distributors LLC, the marketing and distribution arm of Jackson National Life Insurance Company.