CEO Stories with Mac Gardner, FinLit Tech

WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY?

Florida became the latest state to require students to have some financial literacy education before they can graduate from high school. Still, fewer than half the states require any kind of education in economics or financial literacy, leaving education about money and finances in the hands of families. If people don’t have the knowledge themselves, they are ill-equipped to pass along useful information or good habits to their children. Add in cultural taboos related to talking about money, and the lack of opportunity for children to learn becomes apparent.

THE TOOTH FAIRY GOES DIGITAL

As financial transactions increasingly become digital – even simple ones, like giving children allowance or visits from the tooth fairy – there is the possibility that money could become an even more abstract concept for children. Yet it also offers great possibilities for learning and creating strong habits. With that in mind, FinLit Tech is developing a new methodology for teaching financial literacy to young people: TAT (teach, analyze, track progress). Financial literacy is achieved by habit and doing, says Gardner, not by merely reading about money, and good traits, behaviors, and habits lead to financial wellness.