Free resources to help you with your finances
April is Financial Literacy Month! This month, take control of your finances by putting in time to learn tips and strategies that will impact how you manage your money! By improving your financial literacy now, you are setting yourself up for increased financial security in the future.
Did you know?
- 78% of adults live paycheck to paycheck
- 60% of adults do not keep a budget
- Millennials and Gen X are most likely to have more credit card debt than emergency savings
- Only 57% of adults in the U.S. are financially literate
Without proper knowledge about basic financial concepts, a person will struggle to meet their financial goals, or even worse, won’t be prepared in case of a sudden event. However, while financial literacy undeniably plays a major role in everyone’s lives, there has been a lack of discussion in school settings, leaving students underprepared as they move into their adult lives.
"Financial education is a process that should begin at an early age and continue throughout life. This cumulative process builds the skills necessary for making critical financial decisions."
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
At American Riviera Bank, we understand the importance of helping our community build a strong financial foundation.
This is particularly important for our young people so that they better understand basic concepts like budgeting, simple interest, and establishing and maintaining good credit.
According to the Council for Economic Education’s 2022 Survey of the States only 23 states in the U.S. require high school students to take a course in personal finance. While this denotes a marked improvement since CEE’s first survey in 1998, there remains a sizeable financial education knowledge gap.
American Riviera Bank believes that financial capability education, improves the financial health outlook for our youth and better prepares them to tackle unexpected financial situations or prepare for significant life milestones like paying for college, purchasing a home, opening a business, or building a nest egg.
The Basics¶
American Riviera Bank offers the following tips to shore up money management skills:
- Set Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Trackable goals. Choose your priorities—whether it’s saving for a computer or building an emergency fund—and make sure they are achievable. Create a plan of action and measure your progress over time.
- Start a savings account (if you don’t have one already). American Riviera Bank offers automatic transfer services to move a set amount from your checking account to savings monthly as well as QuickSaver, which allows you to set up automatic transfer, based on your debit card transactions, rounded up to the next whole dollar amount.
- Track your spending and avoid making impulse purchases. Create a budget and review it periodically to make necessary adjustments.
- Gain perspective about risk and reward. Knowing how stocks, bonds and mutual funds can affect an investment portfolio shows you how financial decisions can grow—or shrink—your savings. Some financial literacy-based websites, provide simulations of how these investments work in the real world.
- Learn about credit scores—a representation of your financial past, present, and future.
Resources
In partnership with Banzai, ARB has provided a collection of in-depth lessons that cover financial topics from “Basic Saving” to “Planning for Retirement.” Start your financial literacy journey by taking a 5-minute Financial Wellness Assessment and find out how you are doing with your finances and where you can improve. Then, jump into the dozens of lessons available!
Some of the lessons are written as articles and for others, you will be “coached” through a situation and the “coach” will provide advice based on how you answer questions throughout the lesson. With both general tips but also advice catered to your specific needs, this tool is sure to make a difference on how you view money management and financial literacy.
Essential topics covered include: ¶
- Managing Debt
- Budgeting
- Planning for an Emergency
- Buying a Home
- Using Credit Cards
- Teaching Kids Finances
- Taxes
- Planning for Retirement
If you ever find yourself unsure of how to approach a financial issue, take advantage of these quick lessons to augment your understanding of financial concepts. April is the month to take control of your finances!
