First council meeting of the new year!

Hello from D.C.! The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability meets today, and I’m excited to really make things happen in 2012. Speaking of which…

As a member of the Council’s Youth Subcommittee, I’m helping develop a national initiative for families called Money Milestones: 20 things kids need to know to live financially smart lives.

My colleague Dan Kadlec just wrote a piece about it for TIME magazine’s website, and you can see the latest draft of the Money Milestones on the Treasury’s website.

The Money Milestones are a work-in-progress. We’re still getting feedback from experts, academics, and folks like you. Take a look and tell me what you think—post a comment below or email me.

Many thanks to my fellow Council members and everyone who’s helped—and will continue to help—push this forward!

Hello from Chicago!

What a month! Went to D.C. for a Council meeting last week, and now I'm in Chicago. This trip's also for the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability, but this time around the Council's Youth Subcommittee will conduct a "listening session" on teaching financial capability in the Chicago Public Schools.

Our goal is to hear what's working in financial education in Chicago, and see if there are any initiatives we can scale nationwide to help all young Americans leave school financially prepared.

To that end, this morning I'll moderate a roundtable discussion with several inspiring panelists, including Chicago City Treasurer Stephanie Neely, and others from organizations that advance financial literacy and access.

So many questions to discuss: What are the greatest challenges of teaching financial lessons? What kinds of barriers keep young people unbanked? Why don't enough aspiring college students apply for financial aid? How does encouraging entrepreneurism inspire young adults to better manage their money?

Looking forward to a great conversation! I'll report back on what we discover.

Did you learn about personal finance in school? Did any lessons stick with you?

Council meets today!

On my way in to the Treasury Building

Greetings from Washington, D.C.!  The President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability is meeting today, with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan attending. And on behalf of the Youth Subcommittee, I'm presenting one of the big ideas we've been working on. Very exciting! I'll let you in on more details soon…



Watch today's Council meeting!

The President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability is meeting today at 2:30PM EST—and you can watch! Simply tune in to the live webcast and you can follow along with us. I'm proud of the work we've been doing and excited to share it with you. And if you do watch, I'd love to get your feedback in the comments section below.  



Annamaria Lusardi: The first lady of financial literacy

I think of Annamaria Lusardi as the Annie Sullivan of personal finance. Just like Sullivan taught Helen Keller how to communicate, Lusardi is teaching our country how to communicate—about money.

She's been on my radar for years, but since being appointed to the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability, I've had the opportunity to cross paths with her more than usual. In fact, in my research for the Council, every person I've spoken to has said, "You have to talk to Annamaria Lusardi."

And so, of course I did. Not only is she helpful and insightful, but she's truly gifted.

She runs the RAND Financial Literacy Center, a brilliant think-tank-like center that develops and tests innovative ways to truly improve folks' financial decisions. (Oh, to be a fly on the wall!)

On top of that, she's an economics professor at Dartmouth and has consulted on major financial literacy initiatives, including FINRA's 2009 Financial Capability Study, which surveyed more than 28,000 people to find out what Americans know—and don't know—about personal finance. The results are meant to help the public, policymakers, and researchers understand what's needed to improve. If you're anything like me, clicking that link is pure entertainment, especially in seeing how your state rates.

Photo courtesy of Dartmouth And I'm enthralled by her most recent project: She's chair of the committee that's designing the first-ever financial literacy portion of the next PISA exam, to be administered to about 500,000 15-year-olds around the world. The next exam isn't until 2012, and details are up in the air, but this test could become a crucial measure of global financial literacy. (I discussed it recently on The Takeaway.)

One question I wished I'd asked her on the phone: When does she sleep???

If you'd like to follow the wonderful work she's doing, you can check out her blog.

Who's your personal finance hero?