President Barack Obama recently created the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans. The council will advise him on the best way to educate teens and young adults on the basics of finance.
U.S. Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew said at the council’s inaugural public meeting last week that technology will have a huge impact on financial literacy in the coming years.
“Technology has given us the ability to wholly rethink the definition of financial capability, and it gives us the ability to reshape and redefine what it means to be financially literate in the 21st century,” he said.
UNC Student Body President-elect Andrew Powell also said evolving technology will play a big role in helping young people make sound financial decisions.
“A whole list of new apps that are coming out can help students with managing money and comparing loan options,” he said.
John Kinlaw, retired superintend ent of Rutherford County Schools, said technology can assist in improving the financial literacy of young people, but it isn’t the only answer. He said the basics of finance should be emphasized more in K-12 education.
“It should be taught in middle and high schools, and it should be taught in a manner that students understand,” he said.
But new research by UBS Wealth Management Americas, a private investment bank, showed that millennials are the most conscientious generation about their money since the Great Depression.
