The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) offers the award-winning High School Financial Planning Program® (HSFPP), a free and flexible curriculum that has been proven to change students’ knowledge, actions and self-confidence about managing their money.
Money & Me is a hands-on experience that teaches teenagers the basics of money and how to make it work for them. The program covers budgeting, credit advantages and pitfalls, savings and checking accounts, how to save for a big purchase and investing for the future.
The brass|Student Program provides high schools with access to brass|Magazine, a personal finance publication written by young adults that delivers relevant content for classroom discussions and activities. The program also includes online resource centers for teachers and students, and the Credit Unions for College scholarship database.

LifeSmarts…the Ultimate Consumer Challenge is a game show style competition for teenagers designed to better prepare them as responsible consumers in today’s dynamic marketplace. Questions cover personal finance, consumer rights and responsibilities, health and safety, technology and the environment.

Biz Kid$ is a fun, 30-minute PBS television series for kids about making and managing money. It highlights young entrepreneurs who have turned hobbies into successful businesses, raised funds for good causes and much more.

The Kid’s Cash Kit & Caboodle includes practical, hands-on tools to teach children and their families the basics of money management using the concepts of saving, spending and sharing.

Who Are You? Identity Thieves Really Want to Know! is an educational program that utilizes marketing materials, train-the-trainer workshops and instructive sessions to help credit unions and community organizations inform their members about the dangers of identity theft.

Financial Literacy Statistics

Financial Education

Kid’s Cash Kit and Caboodle


It is Never Too Early to Start Teaching Financial Literacy to Children

The Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy’s—Making the Case for Financial Literacy, 2007, featured a collection of personal finance statistics gathered from other sources, including some alarming data:

  • More than three-quarters of students (76%) wish they had more help preparing for their financial future (2007 survey by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.).
  • 49% of teens are eager to learn more about money management, but only 14% have taken a class on the topic (2006 annual back-to-school survey by Capital One).
  • Some 70% of parents surveyed indicated their child had not received any formal training in money management, either in school or in the home. Additionally, 76% said that schools should be required to teach money management skills (July 2005 survey of 1,000 Parents of High School Students by Visa).
  • Only one in five (20%) of college students claim to have been “very well prepared” for managing their money on campus (August 2006 poll commissioned by KeyBank and conducted by Harris Interactive).

Clearly, we need to reach children as early as possible to help them to begin to understand basic financial concepts that will serve as a foundation for financial success throughout their lives.

Keeping It Simple: A Unique Program to Teach Financial Literacy Basics

The Kid’s Cash Kit and Caboodle program, coordinated by the New York Credit Union Foundation (NYCUF), teaches children, ages 5-12, and their families how to manage money using three simple concepts:

  • Saving
  • Spending
  • Sharing

kids cash kitThe kits, distributed through schools and credit union branches, provide visual cues and activities to spark discussion about money. Children gain basic financial knowledge and skills with practical, hands-on tools contained in the kit, including:

  • Moneyboxes with compartments for saving, spending and sharing
  • A moneybox family guide and passbook for recording transactions
  • A financial goals poster
  • An activity book
  • A glossary of financial terms and resources

The educational concepts presented through the kit include: 

  • Financial management
  • Goal setting
  • Decision-making
  • Philanthropy
  • Rewards for consistent savings or thrifty financial practices

 

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