Fair Share

BY DAVID GODSTED, Networks Financial Institute

Indiana - like the rest of the nation - is today experiencing a condition that is negatively affecting residents’ abilities to provide for themselves and their families as breadwinners age. Personal financialliteracy, the set of skills each of us utilize to make the most appropriate financial choices each day, represents an antidote to the symptoms of poor financial choices that plague our nation today, including high rates of bankruptcy and foreclosure, high credit card debt and poor credit histories.

Each of us knows financial literacy is important. But few of us know what personal financial literacy means, how to improve our financial skills and why practicing smart spending, saving and investment every day is so critically important for the futures of ourselves and our families.

Networks Financial Institute is focused on developing programming that specifically benefits Indiana’s residents. NFI’s financial literacy efforts are encapsulated by its new My Cash Counts initiative and its related programs. Within the component of the My Cash Counts program is Kids Count, a financial literacy program for children. It includes curriculum and activities that will eventually reach children at every grade level throughout Indiana. Kids Count on the Money Bus, NFI’s new mobile financial literacy classroom and its curriculum will be making its way throughout the state to third- through fifth-grade students starting this fall.

All Kids Count materials are mapped to Indiana academic standards.

Another important component of the My Cash Counts program is financial literacy research. NFI’s financial literacy related research has included studies of the personal financial ability of Indiana’s high school seniors and a survey of financial literacy activities in Indiana’s kindergarten through high school classrooms. Also, NFI has engaged a nationwide panel of experts to validate its new Financial Literacy Competencies as a basis for establishing a framework for adult financial literacy measurement and education. NFI will also be undertaking research to study the efficacy of early childhood exposure to financial literacy education.

NFI’s My Cash Counts and Kids Count initiatives are registered trademarks of Networks Financial Institute at Indiana State University.

Another exciting component of My Cash Counts is NFI’s 2006 Indiana Financial Literacy Campaign, a community outreach initiative that will launch in April, which is National Financial Literacy Month.

NFI has partnered with Inside Indiana Business to host this statewide, multi-media initiative. The campaign will heighten awareness about financial literacy, provide information to help people make better financial choices and connect people in need to the resources they need to become financially literate.Components of NFI’s Indiana Financial Literacy Campaign will include:

Monthly themes

NFI has developed general themes, appropriate to each month of the year, that will act as framework for all components of the campaign. These themes will be adapted to meet the specific needs of parents and children, teachers, students and adults.

Indiana Financial Literacy Campaign website

Packed with facts, tips, resources and education, the Indiana Financial Literacy Campaign website provides easily accessible financial literacy information. Experts on a variety of financial literacy topics will be contributing articles that will be posted on the site.

TV, radio public service announcements

A series of public service announcements providing financial literacy education for children and adults will be aired throughout the month.Segments on Inside Indiana Business

A series of full-screen graphics will communicate statistics and information about financial literacy throughout the month on Inside Indiana Business, which airs on a variety of TV and radio stations each week throughout the state. On TV, information will be complemented by a series of editorial broadcast segments that will also focus on financial literacy.

NFI’s My Cash Counts financial literacy program, including the increased public awareness that will be created by NFI’s Indiana Financial Literacy Campaign, represent a comprehensive effort built on the expertise of key partnerships toward making a difference in the quality of life for Indiana residents of all ages.

As Hoosiers learn about this prescription for financial health,financial literacy will be medicine everyone will wantto take.