Marvel at your money skills

[DDEATH]

Marvel at your money skills
Gregory Karp
Spending Smart March 30, 2012

Success in life and money usually stems from making good decisions time and again. But you're unlikely to make good decisions without knowledge. And survey after survey shows Americans, young and old, just don't have enough knowledge about basic money issues to make those good decisions.

Thus, the push for financial literacy in the U.S.

It's an effort to teach Americans more about such issues as earning, spending, saving, investing, insuring and dealing with credit and debt. Today, there are not only organizations and websites devoted to financial literacy but online games and a plethora of money tools and calculators — even a new Marvel comic book.

There is a lot of emphasis on improving financial capability in this country right now, from families and communities to government," said Ted Beck, CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education.

Americans need more money savvy than ever, as they're put in charge of their own retirement investing (instead of having traditional pensions) and as they navigate complicated forms of credit and endure bombardments of marketing trying to get them to buy more goods and services.

"Today more than ever, personal finance has become tricky," said Laura Levine, president and CEO of youth financial literacy organization Jump$tart Coalition. "There are lot of options, a lot of things to know." But financial literacy is, at its root, about awareness, she said. "Most of us won't become financial experts … but it's still important for us to know the basics of how to make smart money decisions."

To that end, we offer these resources and inspirations to improve your money skills.

Consider these questions from a national test given to more than 1,000 full-time college students. Fewer than half of college students answered them correctly. Overall, the students scored 62.2 percent. How well can you do?

1. Inflation can cause difficulty in many ways. Which group would have the greatest problem during periods of high inflation that last several years?

a.) Older, working couples saving for retirement.

b.) Older people living on fixed retirement income.

c.) Young couples with no children who both work.

d.) Young working couples with children.

2. Sara and Joshua just had a baby. They received money as baby gifts and want to put it away for the baby's education. Which of the following tends to have the highest growth over periods of time as long as 18 years?

a.) A checking account.

b.) Stocks.

c.) A U.S. government savings bond.

d.) A savings account.

3. If you have caused an accident, which type of automobile insurance would cover damage to your own car?

a) Comprehensive.

b) Liability.

c) Term.

d) Collision.

4. If you had a savings account, which would be correct concerning the interest that you would earn?

a) Earnings from savings account interest may not be taxed.

b) Income tax may be charged on the interest if your income is high enough.

c) Sales tax may be charged on the interest that you earn.

d) You cannot earn interest until you pass your 18th birthday.

Answers: 1(b), 2(b), 3(d), 4(b)

SOURCE: JumpStart 2008 Survey of Personal Financial Literacy Among College Students

Online resources

The number of online resources dedicated to financial education has exploded in recent years. Here is a sampling. Most are free, but a few have modest fees.

GOVERNMENT SITES

MyMoney.gov. U.S. government's website dedicated to teaching Americans the basics about money.

"Managing Your Money in Good Times and Bad." Downloadable publication offering tips for spending less, saving more and borrowing smart, by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDF file), tinyurl.com/FDIC-YourMoney

H.I.P. Pocket Change. U.S. Mint. usmint.gov/kids

PRIVATE SITES, ORGANIZATIONS

JumpStart Coalition Clearinghouse: Online library of financial education resources to teach young people. tinyurl.com/Jumpstart-library

Smart About Money, by the National Endowment for Financial Education. smartaboutmoney.org

Feed the Pig, by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. feedthepig.org

Mint.com. Site and mobile app that aggregates your financial accounts and allows you to set goals and budgets. Owned by Intuit, maker of Quicken software.

GetRichSlowly.org. Example of one of the popular blogs devoted to discussing money matters.

ConsumerJungle.org. Website aimed at educating youths about consumer issues, by the Take Charge America Institute at the University of Arizona.

ThreeJars.com, DigiBeanz.com, Countmybeanz.com and Tykoon.com are kids' allowance-type sites to help children learn about earning, spending, saving and giving.

GAMES AND STUFF

Financial Football. NFL-themed game that tests money-management skills before each play. Correct answers move your team toward the end zone. By Visa and the NFL. tinyurl.com/finfootball

The Stock Market Game. Gives students in grades four through 12 the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in an online portfolio of stocks, bonds and funds. By the SIFMA Foundation. smgww.org

Avengers comic book. See Avengers comic book heroes, such as Spider-Man and Hulk, discuss money topics. practicalmoneyskills.com/avengers

Spendster. A site like YouTube where people can upload video stories confessing ways they have wasted money. By NEFE. http://www.spendster.org

PiggyMojo. Every time you don't make a purchase, your partner gets a text message, challenging them to do the same. piggymojo.com

The Great Piggy Bank Adventure, by Disney and T. Rowe Price. thegreatpiggybankadventure.com

[ucanit]

Good post, DD. You'll keep me busy all weekend, researching those websites.

The sheriff department sends their thanks to you for keeping me off the streets!!

[daisycutter]

Holy crap, I scored 100 on that four question test! The fact that college students did so poorly on this pretty simple test is pretty embarrassing! What the hell are we teaching these kids? Get them to prof. ucanits classroom immediately! DDEATH, out of all the websites you posted, the one that caught my eye was "get rich slowly"! Slow and steady always wins the race! Ok, let me visit that one now!

[RichardFudnavis]

I'm a firm believer that the more knowledge you acquire, the richer your life will be. But as post-secondary tuition and fees continue to skyrocket, students and parents increasingly are asking themselves.....