In America, we’ve got a financial literacy crisis on our hands. Being financially literate means having the ability and skills to make money decisions, and I talk about how you can get these skills!
If you’re interested in learning how to take control of your finances and start becoming an investor like Warren Buffett, check out my free PDF guide on my Free Resources page!
FinLit is about having the understanding of essential financial concepts so you can make informed decisions about saving, investing, and borrowing money. Get financially swole by doing number crunches! 😀
I talk us through our society’s epic fails at financial literacy because having awareness is the first step toward solving the problem.
Charles Schwab published an article about how financial literacy is the great equalizer in the battle against social injustice, and I believe this is the key too!
As much as our society is fortunate to receive stimulus checks, aka “helicopter money,” it could also be seen as a crutch for a deeper systemic problem that shows we’re lacking preparedness and savings to deal with emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on the economy. This is what led to us saving 32% in April 2020!
And yet, the US economy as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 70% based on consumer spending, so we’re in a tug of war between saving and spending money. This makes our economy go round because one person’s spending is another person’s income.
Only a third of people in the US can answer 4 or 5 out of 5 basic financial literacy quiz questions? That means most people are flunking! See where you stand by taking the FINRA quiz at: www.usfinancialcapability.org/quiz.php
Spoiler alert: I disagreed about this quiz’s question on which is safer: a single stock vs mutual finds but I know why they want people to answer this way. I follow Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger who believe in investing in a few wonderful companies that you’re capable of understanding, have done the research and homework for, and if you follow Buffett’s style of investing because he knows how to invest in a single company and it’s not riskier than investing in a mutual fund.
The Ohio State University found that having higher math literacy, or numeracy is associated with greater financial savviness. This means we should hone our basic math skills to be more financially literate!
I cover more of my high level attitudes and behaviors with regard to savings, investing, balancing a checkbook of my checking account, credit cards and the fine print fees, credit score, credit card interest, student loan debt, mortgage loan interest, and risk management in terms of insurances we get to hedge against emergencies and accidents we might have.
My final call to action to you is you don’t really have to have a strict budget per se, you just have to be willing to track your spending and saving. You can do this in a notebook, spreadsheet, or an app, whatever system works for you that you can stay disciplined about.
Congrats! After watching this video, you’re already more financially literate than before and I hope you become a master of your personal finances and the best investor you can be. 😀
All of us are on the journey towards FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and it is one filled with much gratitude and enlightenment, and I look forward to making more investor friends.
Add me on instagram @michellemarki! 🙂