U.S, stress levels are high and financial worries top the list of stressors. Bolstering your financial literacy can help ease the stress!
Updated February 2024
Did you know that April is Financial Literacy Month? It makes sense that it falls in April since many of us are taking financial stock as we do our taxes – and we don’t always like what we see! The focus on Financial Literacy started in 2003 as an initiative to educate youth about money matters, but it has broadened the focus to generally raise awareness about the importance of financial literacy no matter what your age.
How’s your financial literacy? Take this quick 6 question Financial Literacy Quiz to test your financial literacy and see how you compare to others in your state or in the nation.
This year, Financial Literacy Month comes at a time when people are experiencing high levels of stress related to money matters due to inflation, which is at a forty-year high. At the grocery store and the gas station, prices are soaring. The American Psychological Association recently released the results of their annual “Stress in America” poll, which showed that U.S. adults who were already stressed after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, are now worried by inflation and global events, like the war in Ukraine. But money worries topped the list of concerns, with 65% reporting that they are stressed about money and the economy — the highest percentage since 2015 – and 87% cited rising costs of everyday items, such as groceries and gas, as a “significant source of stress.”
Even without the financial stressors that the pandemic added, research shows that 40% of Americans struggle to pay an unexpected $400 bill, according to a 2018 report issued by the US Federal Reserve.
How ESI EAP can help you reduce financial stress and increase financial literacy
ESI EAP offers a variety of benefits, and our financial tools are designed to help reduce financial stress and to increase financial literacy by assisting you in learning more about money management and strengthening your long-term financial security. Here are some of the primary benefits that members and their families can access:
Personal Financial Coaching: One-on-one Personal Financial Coaching with a certified Personal Finance coach to help with student debt, home purchasing, saving and spending, retirement planning, and creating a budget.
Personal Finance Training: Members have access to online Personal Finance Trainings. These are available 24/7/365 individually or as a great adjunct to Financial Coaching.
Financial Calculators: Dozens of online calculators help with budgeting, saving, and “what if” scenarios for rent vs buy on cars and homes, as well as for retirement planning and budgeting.
Lifestyle Savings Benefit: Access to an ever-changing array of thousands of discounts and cash-back offers on popular brand name food and clothing, home electronics, technology tools, furnishings, travel, and more.
Personal Finance & Education Center: Self-help resources on personal finance, reducing debt, building budgets, saving, investing, and attaining financial goals.
Tools for Tough Times: Online resource center with money-saving ideas, articles, and resources to solve problems, reduce costs, and do more with less.
Stress Assessment & Services: Identify your critical stressors and access stress counseling or coaching to learn stress reduction techniques tailored to your specific needs.
More tools to help strengthen your Financial Literacy
Whether you are a current employee member of ESI EAP or not, here are a few great online resources to help you learn more about managing money and strengthen your financial literacy.
- MyMoney.gov – more than 20 Federal agencies pool resources to offer tools, life events, and principles related to strengthening money management knowledge.
- 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy – a free program of the nation’s certified public accountants to help Americans understand their personal finances through every stage of life.
- Annualcreditreport.com – a collaborative effort by the three nationwide credit reporting companies have joined forces to make it easy for you to request your reports through a central website. It’s the only authorized way to get free credit reports.
- The Federal Trade Commission – consumer tools and education on credit, loans, debt, shopping, donating, ID theft, financial scams. and more.
- Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy – a national non-profit dedicated to advancing financial literacy among students from pre-kindergarten through college.