3 Reasons Financial Literacy is Important - Money Tip Tuesday

Throughout our lifetime, finance plays a huge role—from counting pennies in preschool to making a mortgage payment on a house.

Finances can be overwhelming, but with the help of financial literacy tools you can build self-confidence in understanding the concepts of money management, debt prevention, and financial security.  

Links:

• Watch our Budgeting 101 Webinar
• Watch Financial Freedom: Your Path to Debt Free Living webinar
• Check out TCU University for more financial education tips and resources!
• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
• Learn more about Triangle Credit Union

Transcript:

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast.  

Financial literacy resources overall offer advice to analyze, prioritize, and accomplish your financial goals. 

Let us break down why financial literacy is significant today: 

Learning Budgets and How to Save Money 

Saving money and creating a budget is the starting point in financial literacy. These tools provide a financial picture and explain the process of building a budget so you have a better understanding of how much you earn (income) impacts how much you spend (expenses). From charts to articles, financial literacy resources can provide a budget structure for you to prioritize and track your spending to make sure the budget remains healthy and balanced. Financial literacy resources will also offer suggestions towards important savings such as retirement and developing an emergency fund as well as saving for a bucket list vacation. 

If you’re new to budgeting and need a little guidance, watch our Budgeting 101 webinar available on our YouTube channel for an overview, explanation, and demonstration of how to work your very first budget. 

Understanding Credit, Payments, and Debt Prevention 

Once you understand budgeting and saving, you will learn more complex subjects like credit cards and loans. Financial literacy resources provide guidance and tips on various interest rates towards loans, how to make those payments, and avoid or pay off debt. Financial literacy resources apply the prior practices of saving money towards paying off any existing debt. 

If you’re looking for a practical way to start paying down your debt, watch our Financial Freedom: Your Path to Debt Free Living webinar on our YouTube channel to get a step-by-step presentation on how to structure your very own debt payoff plan. 

Recognizing & Protecting Yourself from Fraud 

Lastly, financial literacy resources provide alerts regarding constant fraud and detecting suspicious behaviors that come from fraudsters using emails, phone calls, and text messages. Financial articles provide important information on ways to keep your financial accounts safe such as checking your credit report, card transactions, or contacting your financial institution to confirm alerts and messages are from your financial institution and not from those trying to steal your identity. These kinds of communications are not only beneficial for you, but for your financial institution to be aware of these fraudulent attacks and spread the word with their organization and all their members. 

Financial literacy tools are educational resources that help you understand how to manage your money, make payments on time, and prevent financial fraud. More than likely, your financial organization provides articles, learning programs, or even games for the younger audience. Financial literacy resources can also provide different calculators to determine certain payments and yearly terms on things such as mortgages, loans, and debt consolidation. These resources advance your financial decisions and provide ease throughout your financial journey. 

Triangle Credit Union has dedicated a website for financial education and resources known as TCU University. You will find finance-related blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, webinars, and events. To learn more about subjects like money management and debt prevention, visit triangleuniversity.org. 

If there are any other tips or topics, you’d like us to cover, let us know at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org.  Like and follow our Making Money Personal FB and IG page and look for our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union on social media to share your thoughts.  

Thanks for listening to today’s Money Tip Tuesday and make sure to check out our other tips and episodes on the Making Money Personal podcast.  

Have a great day!