April is National Financial Literacy Month

ST. PETERSBURG — Light the way for your children’s financial future. National Financial Literacy Month is recognized in the United States in April in an effort to highlight the importance of personal financial knowledge with a focus on how to establish and maintain healthy financial habits. “Making well-informed decisions about money is a key life skill,” said David Vladeck, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Neighborhood Home Solutions (NHS) works year-round to offer free Financial Fitness classes and free one-on-one counseling for personalized financial action plans to help families and individuals make the most of their money. Whether you’re a student, young adult, parent, older person or military service member, NHS can provide financial tools, guidance and support as you build a more secure financial future.

In honor of National Literacy Month, NHS would like to focus the conversation today on families with children. Parents want to provide a stable financial environment for their children but often face challenges in an economy that has not fully recovered from the recession.

Learning stronger money management skills is an important place to start in improving one’s sense of control over money, knowing that not only is this critical for taking care of children’s needs and well-being but especially because children learn financial skills by observing the behavior of their parents.

A recent survey by RetailMeNot found that 92 percent of people think parents should be the ones to teach children about finances. If a parent doesn’t have a sense of control over money, how will the children learn?

Make a commitment today to learn more about money matters. Financial education classes and one-on-one counseling provide practical tips and links to reliable sources on a variety of topics, ranging from credit rebuilding, debt collection, vehicle repossession, managing mortgage payments, and avoiding foreclosure rescue scams.

Make this April the time you move forward to a better financial future for yourself and for your children. Call NHS at (727) 821-6897 and register for a series of Financial Fitness classes that will give you more tools and information. You can never know too much about managing your money!

NHS is a 501 (c) (3) HUD approved nonprofit housing counseling organization. Services are provided free of charge. Partners include the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HomeFree USA, Florida Hardest-Hit Fund, Pinellas County Community Development, and the City of St. Petersburg. Sources for this article include the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and HomeFree USA.