Despite the current foreclosure crisis that seems to be the topic of virtually every newspaper these days, the need for personal financial education (financial literacy) is not a new concept. Indeed, the fact that the U.S. savings rate is at an all-time low, while the personal debt rate is at an all-time high, demonstrates just how important financial education is to our future (and the future of our kids). A large number of parents (myself included) are hoping to be able to either leave their children with a legacy (a small financial cushion at a minimum), or to at least be able to provide them with the means with which they can obtain the tools to help them along in life (money for college, education or business funding). But the ultra-consumptive mindset of many in my generation has led to bad financial decisions in which there was often times no thought of a “rainy day” much less tomorrow.
For many, it is now raining, and raining hard. That’s not really the unfortunate part… because rainy days are always ahead of us. What is unfortunate is that the same reason that some people are in the crisis that they are finding themselves in is the same one that got them there in the first place.