[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4873]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       IN SUPPORT OF APRIL AS NATIONAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRAD SHERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 20, 2016

  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join President Obama in 
recognizing April as National Financial Capability Month, and highlight 
the vital role that the American Institute of Certified Public 
Accountants or AICPA, state CPA societies, and CPAs across the country 
play in educating all Americans about their personal finances.
  National Financial Capability Month is a yearly reminder of how 
important it is to improve Americans' understanding of their personal 
finances. The Great Recession showed the need to support informed 
financial decision-making and help ensure economic security for all. 
Financial education is an essential component to making smart financial 
choices and protecting hard-earned income.
  In May 2004, the CPA profession launched a unified financial literacy 
initiative: 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy. The effort brings 
together the AICPA, state CPA societies and individual CPAs to address 
a growing public issue: financial illiteracy. The program combines 
grassroots financial literacy efforts with free resources for the 
public and tools that CPAs can use at a local level to volunteer to 
educate Americans of all ages on financial topics. CPAs are deeply 
concerned about Americans' high financial illiteracy levels and are 
working to ensure they have tools and knowledge to make educated 
financial decisions. The initiative sends the message that financial 
education should be a lifelong endeavor--from encouraging children to 
save their allowance to helping adults plan for a secure retirement.
  The AICPA National CPA Financial Literacy Commission is leading the 
CPA profession in a national effort to advance the financial literacy 
of Americans. Toward this end, this group works to increase awareness 
of the importance of financial literacy education, builds liaisons 
within the financial literacy community, and serves as media 
spokespeople.
  Educating young adults about their finances is a difficult task. To 
help solve this problem, the AICPA recently launched a new financial 
literacy version of the Bank On It game for high school students. Bank 
On It is a free, online game. The financial literacy version covers 
topics students need to master to be money-savvy in the real world, 
such as balancing a checkbook, understanding credit scores and student 
loans, and even investing in a cool startup company. Game questions 
were reviewed by CPAs across the country, giving students have an 
opportunity to learn financial management skills in an engaging and 
positive way.
  This year is the 10th anniversary of Feed The Pig, the AICPA's public 
service campaign with the Ad Council that provides Americans ages 25-34 
with free tools and resources to make smart saving decisions. Over the 
past 10 years, millions of young adults have benefited from AICPA's 
free resources by creating and keeping personal financial goals. And 
the profession's leadership in this area is working. According to a new 
survey from the AICPA and the Ad Council, one in three millennials (34 
percent) ranked saving as their number one goal for the year--ahead of 
living a healthy lifestyle (20 percent), paying off debt (19 percent), 
and losing weight (14 percent). But while saving was a top priority, a 
majority of millennials attributed their lack of saving to impulse 
buying (65 percent).
  Additionally, according to recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank 
of New York, young people now have less debt overall than they did in 
2003, even in the face of significant increases in college tuition 
since that time. But there is still much work to be done. The same 
Federal Reserve survey shows that debt held by borrowers between the 
ages of 50 and 80 increased almost 60 percent over the same time 
period.
  We must ensure that everyone, from elementary school to older 
Americans, has the knowledge to make educated decisions about their 
finances. It is essential to restoring the faith in our financial 
system and keeping the American dream alive.

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