| Remember when you were a kid and all it took to manage your finances was
regularly dropping coins in your piggy bank? It’s time for millions of young
working Americans to start doing that again, according to a new public service
announcement (PSA) campaign from the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, the state CPA societies and the Ad Council.
The campaign’s icon, Benjamin Bankes, the traditional childhood piggy bank
transformed into an attention-grabbing icon, inspires 25-34 year olds to reignite the savings habit by taking small, easy steps to take control
of their finances. Through a variety of media, including TV, radio, print, Web,
digital and outdoor advertising such as billboards and bus kiosks, the
campaign’s call to action, Feed the Pig, reinforces the message to young working
Americans to get reacquainted with the piggy bank concept and to save and build
long-term financial security. To begin taking these small steps, the target
audience can find free financial information and tools by visiting a new Web
site,
FeedthePig.org.
Smart money management now helps build a solid financial foundation for the
future. Sticking to a monthly budget, cutting up a credit card and opening up a
401(k) are just a few basic steps to begin. “Younger adults often don’t realize
what a big difference even ‘small change’ makes. By forgoing the morning latte
and saving this money, in twenty years you could have over $60,000 in the bank.”
The Feed the Pig campaign is the latest component in the CPA profession’s pro
bono 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy effort (360financialliteracy.org)
which aims to educate Americans, from school children to retirees, on financial
topics that apply specifically to their stage of life.
Financial literacy --
it's a lot more than the ability to balance your checkbook!
Financial literacy
is the ability to read, analyze, manage and communicate about the personal financial conditions affecting material well-being. It includes:
 The ability to make financial choices,
Understand money and financial issues
Plan for the future and respond to life events.
This definition first appeared in a Fannie Mae study called
Personal Finance and the Rush to
Competence
and was also reported in
Financial Literacy in America: Individual
Choices, National Consequences
, a white paper issued from the National Endowment for Financial Education
(NEFE).
The subject of financial literacy has risen to crisis proportions as
individuals move from one life cycle to another and each time face new questions
regarding financial decisions with which they may have had little if any
experience. Americans have the lowest savings rate of any country in the
industrialized world. Bankruptcies are at an all time high and many Americans
are not prepared for retirement.e financial needs:
360 Degrees of Financial Literacy
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