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Grow Your Money Skills…It’s Financial Literacy Month!
By Miriam Bridges
April 1, 2021
April showers bring…Financial Literacy Month!
Financial literacy will equip you with money skills. Good money habits and skills will lead you to greater financial well-being—and help you achieve things such as education, home ownership, and a comfortable retirement. And those will last a lot longer than May flowers.
The ICI Education Foundation (ICIEF) works to promote investment education, so we’re going to share a few resources you can use to build your investment and savings skills this month.
- If you’re a parent looking to help your children learn about investing and reaching long-term financial goals, ICIEF has two digital resources available to help you help them. (And you may learn a few things yourself!) Explore essential investing basics such as diversification, compound interest, and risk while you travel through the Investing Road Trip. Then, put those investing basics into action by Playing the Long Game. Invest $1,000 in the S&P 500, follow the market, and see what works best—staying invested or trying to time the market.
- If you’re new to investing, it’s important to understand key concepts. ICIEF offers a helpful series examining different investing basics that are essential to successful investing. Learn about risk, diversification, the benefits of mutual funds, the cost of investing, and more.
- If you’re in college, see if SFEPD is offering financial literacy workshops and seminars on your campus.
- If you’re in the workforce, the Alliance for Investor Education offers a wide range of information to help you make wise investment decisions.
- If you’re committed to financial smarts for young people, take a look at the Jump$tart Clearinghouse—a comprehensive online library of financial education resources—by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. This website offers resources from dozens of national organizations that share a commitment to advancing youth financial literacy.
- If you’re an educator, the Maryland Council on Economic Education offers a wide variety of lessons and educational tools to support teachers.
- Looking for more? The American Savings Education Council offers resources by goal, age, and circumstance.
- Stay tuned for an upcoming program sponsored by an ICIEF grant—the University of the District of Columbia’s Financial Literacy Initiative Program (FLIP)!
Last, follow @ICIEF on Twitter to find other investment education materials we’ll promote…and maybe a quiz or two to test your money IQ! (You can also find ICIEF on Facebook and LinkedIn.) And use #FLM21 to learn more from other organizations committed to money skills.
Miriam Bridges is vice president of the ICI Education Foundation.
Permalink: https://www.ici.org/viewpoints/21_view_finlitmonth
TOPICS: 401(k)Equity InvestingIRAInvestment EducationInvestor ResearchMutual FundRetirement PolicySavingsShareholder
Traditional and Roth IRAs Offer Choice and Flexibility
By Sarah Holden and Daniel Schrass
March 29, 2021
Whether opened with rollovers or contributions, whether traditional or Roth, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) offer investors access to a world of investing. With $12.2 trillion in assets, IRAs represent more than one-third of total US retirement market assets and more than one-tenth of all US household financial assets. In mid-2020, 47.9 million US households, or 37.3 percent, owned IRAs.
TOPICS: Equity InvestingIRARetirement ResearchSavingsShareholder
To Do: Check Your Savings Goals This Week!
By Miriam Bridges
February 22, 2021
This week, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and the ICI Education Foundation (ICIEF) are joining thousands of corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and individuals to celebrate America Saves Week. This annual campaign encourages Americans to assess their financial situations, set savings goals, and implement plans to achieve them.
TOPICS: 401(k)Equity InvestingIRAInvestment EducationInvestor ResearchMutual FundRetirement PolicySavingsShareholder