As a member agency of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proud to support the new National Strategy for Financial Literacy to guide nationwide actions on building youth financial competency, developing good saving and investing habits, improving Americans’ knowledge of digital financial literacy, and learning how to avoid fraud and scams.
The CFPB has developed evidence-based financial education resources to help Americans increase their financial well-being. The CFPB’s youth financial education strategy is a research-based framework that outlines when and how children and youth acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviors associated with adult financial well-being. The framework supports improving executive functioning skills, creating and encouraging positive financial habits, and building financial knowledge and decision-making skills, which are the three building blocks children develop in youth.
The National Strategy for Financial Literacy establishes four priority areas for the FLEC:
- Youth Financial Capability: Build a foundation of basic financial skills starting in childhood and young adulthood to improve financial outcomes for the next generation of Americans.
- Saving and Investing: Increase Americans’ knowledge of saving and investing to build financial
security and achieve their financial goals, including by promoting awareness of new savings and investment vehicles such as Trump Accounts for children. - Digital Financial Literacy: Improve Americans’ knowledge and decision-making skills to enable
the safe and confident use of digital financial products and services. - Scams and Fraud Education: Equip consumers with the knowledge to recognize and avoid scams and fraud and the tools to mitigate the impact of potential losses.
The National Strategy for Financial Literacy also identifies best practices for delivering effective financial education, including providing actionable and timely education at key financial decision points, tailoring education to life stages and individual situations, reinforcing concepts over time, incorporating experiential and hands-on learning, supporting high-quality instruction, and evaluating program effectiveness. The strategy was developed through consultation with FLEC-represented agencies, public input, and independent research on financial literacy and education.
The FLEC was established by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 to “improve the financial literacy and education of persons in the United States through the development of a national strategy to promote financial literacy and education.” The FLEC is composed of the heads of 23 federal agencies and the White House Domestic Policy Council and is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Vice Chairman is the Acting Director of the CFPB.