Newsroom

April 23, 2015

Financial Literacy Day on the Hill today

NAFCU lobbyists are participating in Financial Literacy Day on Capitol Hill today with lawmakers, promoting ways credit unions work to help members make sound financial decisions to support life goals.

Last week, NAFCU released the April edition of its Economic & CU Monitor, which provided results of a survey on financial literacy. The survey report showed credit unions spend an average of 86 hours each month on matters related to that topic.

Among other findings:

  • nearly every credit union respondent offers financial literacy training to its members (84.6 percent);
  • credit unions' financial literacy efforts reach an average of 20,800 members per institution;
  • most respondents (61.9 percent) also saw an increase in the number of members taking advantage of financial literacy resources in 2014; and
  • financial literacy training programs credit union offer their members, in order of popularity, are: home buying, overdraft avoidance, online financial tips, overuse of financial services and emergency fund planning.

NAFCU has encouraged its members to participate in Financial Literacy Month by offering their members resources on getting out of debt, building saving habits and maintaining a consistent budget.

On Thursday, NAFCU Military Liaison Quincy Enoch attended the Department of Defense Office of Military Community and Family Policy Financial Readiness Roundtable at which various ways to improve financial literacy and education among servicemembers and their families were discussed.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray on Thursday discussed Jump$tart's efforts to promote financial literacy for the next generation during the coalition's award ceremony. "Jump$tart's leadership and efforts to promote financial literacy for the next generation are deeply admirable," Cordray said. "Over the years, financial education has become an intense passion for me that I have pursued at the local, state, and now the federal level of government."