April 13, 2023

I aced my way through economics, business calculus, and both of my college accounting classes, yet I still felt unprepared for navigating the financial ins and outs of the real world. I remember the day it hit me, too. Last year, I made my first “grown-up” purchase: a used car from my local dealership! As soon as I held the keys, I could feel the clouds opening and the sun shining down. The white paint seemed to sparkle in the daylight. The dealership even went the extra mile and stuck a huge bow on the hood! I was in complete bliss. That is, before the salesman and my stepdad started throwing around terms that sounded foreign to me: APR, principal, amortization. To sound smarter than I felt, I quickly tried to recall lessons from my high school economics class, but I came up empty. It was like a moment from a movie when the main character has the epiphany that sets the whole plot in motion: I am so financially illiterate.

It wasn’t like I was horrible with my money; I just had no idea how to manage it properly. I used to laugh about it, almost like my lack of financial literacy was a dumb party trick. However, after I graduated from college and landed my first “big girl job”—with Y4Y, no less—I quickly had to start thinking about some very unfun things such as debit and credit, 401k, and investing. That’s when I discovered the breadth of financial resources on Y4Y’s website. Even though I don’t run an out-of-school time program, that didn’t mean that I couldn’t use Y4Y’s free tools! Check out the resources that I used on my journey to become more financially literate:

• Financial Literacy Key Terms: I scoured Google to find simple definitions for difficult financial terms, but it turns out that I didn’t have to! This tool defines key terms to start you on your financial literacy path.
• Adult Preprogram and Postprogram Assessments: You know the saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know”? That’s where I was. This tool helped me understand what gaps I needed to fill. It asks questions that touch on credit scores, interest, tax refunds, and more. If I didn’t know the answer, I used that as a guideline for what I needed to research more! When using this tool in your program, be sure to first explore the Guiding Principles for Facilitating Preprogram and Postprogram Assessments.
• Introduction to Financial Literacy: Though I used this tool to refresh my basic understanding of financial literacy, this PowerPoint can be used in your adult financial literacy course. If your adult participants need somewhere to start, this tool is for you. It covers earning, spending, credit and debit, insuring, and saving and investing.
• Financial Literacy Book List: I’m a book lover and if you, your staff, and your students are the same way, this book list will be of great value to you! I spent my time reading a few of the books for adults and found myself picking up knowledge with each chapter. My personal favorite was The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke, but there are a multitude of books for every age group.

After I sharpened up my financial know-how with Y4Y’s tools, it was time for me to get down to business and make my way through the Building Financial Literacy Click & Go.

• Podcasts: I don’t know about you, but I personally love podcasts, so listening to the three that are included in the Click & Go was a no-brainer. Podcast 1 demonstrates how to design and provide financial literacy for adults. Podcast 2 is all about learning the benefits of community partnerships such as banks and finance professionals. It will also give you ideas for building partnerships to support financial literacy. Podcast 3 discusses financial literacy resources for yourself and your program.
• Mini-Lessons: If you only have 15 minutes to spare, catch our two mini-lessons! You’ll get an in-depth introduction to financial literacy and tips for developing age-appropriate financial literacy activities.

As a self-confessed financial literacy novice, I don’t know it all. However, with the tools I’ve found through Y4Y’s website, I feel much closer to achieving a sense of financial freedom, and that’s priceless.