You learned a lot at school. But did your teachers or professors educate you on how to use credit, protect your identity, or maintain a good credit score? Sadly, personal finance education does not rank up there with reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.
According to research from the credit bureau Experian, more than one in three Generation Zers (those born roughly between 1997 and 2012) are interested in personal finance topics. Among recent high school graduates, more than three in four agree that a financial management class should be compulsory in schools.
Give your kids a better start than you had by signing them up for educational resources from the Get Smart About Credit campaign, an annual initiative sponsored by the American Bankers Association (ABA) Community Engagement Foundation. About 6,000 bankers participated last year. They delivered educational presentations to almost 156,000 teenagers in schools nationwide, covering topics like credit cards, budgeting and paying for college.
Free registration to this year’s Get Smart About Credit Day on October 17 includes online access to financial education resources such as new webinars and presentation slides, as well as material from previous years.
MoneyTips also has several resources to educate you about credit, no matter your age. If you’re not sure where to start, download our free Give Yourself Credit eBook for an introduction to credit. The eBook teaches you how to read your credit report and explains the factors that make up your credit score. Once you have the basics, our follow-up eBook explains 9 Simple Ways To Raise your Credit Score, including personal credit-building tips from financial experts. Both books are free to download for MoneyTips members; there’s no charge to join the community that covers mortgages, credit cards, debt management, and more.
You can check your credit score and read your credit report for free within minutes by joining MoneyTips.
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