Financial literacy leader visits RI

Ted Beck is the President and CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education and serves on President Obama's Advisory Council on Financial Capability.  He is also the National Chairman of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. 

Ted made several stops in Rhode Island Monday and joined The Rhode Show to talk more about it.

The Rhode Show: Welcome Ted.  I understand you had quite a busy schedule yesterday in the Ocean State.  What were some of the highlights?

Ted: I started the day at East Greenwich High School and spoke to around 100 students.  I also had the opportunity to recognize Rhode Island high school students who received perfect marks on the National Financial Capability Challenge.  I then spent the afternoon with students, parents, teachers, and other financial literacy supporters at the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition’s annual awards ceremony.  One of the rewards of my job is to spend time with people who really care about the personal financial education of young people.  And there are a lot of those in Rhode Island.

The Rhode Show: You have a national perspective on state approaches to financial literacy.  What's your take on Rhode Island?

Ted: Rhode Island is fortunate to have one of our best personal financial trainers in the country.  Through both the National Endowment for Financial Education and the Jump$tart Coalition, I have had the opportunity to work with Claudia Kerbel of the University of Rhode Island and the RI Jump$tart Coalition.  She has been working with teachers in Rhode Island for many years and it shows.  The educators who teach personal finance courses in Rhode Island are highly competent and this is in large part due to Claudia's efforts.

While Rhode Island has not established official standards in personal finance, nor does the state require personal financial education, students who take elective courses here can be confident that they will receive essential tools that will help they navigate the increasingly complex financial marketplace.

The Rhode Show: You advise the President, what financial literacy advice can you give all of us?

Ted: Effective financial behaviors come from continuous access.  Certainly, parents are the strongest influencers of how children will learn to manage their money, but we cannot ignore the influence that schools and peers have.  We need to do more in our schools nationally to recognize that we are teaching our kids a life skill that they will use every day throughout their lifetimes.  Parents and teachers must provide knowledge and encouragement so that future adults will enter the real world with the building blocks toward creating a solid financial future, which in turn, will strengthen our national economy.