Advocacy, Research & Updates

The NFEC spearheads the financial wellness movement around the world through advocacy and raising awareness. Our campaigns are focused on promoting financial wellness through: promoting the adopting of financial literacy programming into schools, encouraging individuals to work toward greater financial strength, getting families involved in teaching kids about money, and sharing research with the industry to empower broader advocacy.

We commend you on your interest in the movement to promote financial literacy education and help support people to work toward greater financial wellness. Because financial education is still a grassroots movement, your participation is much valued and needed.

Featured Advocacy Campaign of the Quarter: Financial Literacy Month

On March 9, 2004 Senate Resolution 316 was passed designating April 2004 as “Financial Literacy Month” to raise public awareness about the importance of financial education in the United States and the serious consequences associated with a lack of understanding about personal finances. The NFEC offers complimentary resources and suggestions for participating.

A major part of Financial Literacy Month for the NFEC is Financial Educators Day. Each year, we recognize those making a difference in the Financial Literacy Movement based on nominations we receive. Do you know someone who deserves to have their efforts recognized? Click the button below.

Financial Literacy Month – Learn More
Financial Educators Day – Nominate Yourself or Another

 

Latest Advocacy Campaigns

Financial Literacy Month

April

On March 9, 2004 Senate Resolution 316 was passed designating April 2004 as “Financial Literacy Month” to raise public awareness about the importance of financial education in the United States and the serious consequences associated with a lack of understanding about personal finances. We commend those organizations that are promoting financial wellness, and encourage you to expand your programs this year.

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National Financial Educators Day

April

Financial Educators Day recognizes those individuals who are working to improve the financial capabilities of people in their communities. will honor educators with a Financial Educators Day Certificate of Appreciation. The only requirement is that the award recipient contributes positively to the financial literacy movement. Nominate yourself or another

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National Credit Education Month

March

Credit Education Month (March) was founded to increase awareness about the importance of building a positive credit profile and provide strategies on how to work toward a great credit score and excellent credit history.

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Love & Money Month

February

Money has impact on our relationships. To raise awareness about the connection between love and money, the National Financial Educators Council launched Love & Money Month.

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Teach Financial Literacy Petition

January, August

Financial problems have reached epidemic proportions. People across the country and in your community are suffering from long-term financial problems. To address this the NFEC has a petition to encourage schools to adopt financial literacy programming.

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Financial Illiteracy Costs

January

Each year, the NFEC looks at how the lack of financial literacy affects people’s lives, and asks the question, “During the past year, about how much money do you think you lost because you lacked knowledge about personal finances?”

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Personal Finance Calendar

December

The Personal Finance Calendar promotion suggests the kinds of financial reviews people should complete monthly and periodically, lays out a month-by-month schedule of significant financial events and documents to evaluate and update regularly.

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Nomination Period: Financial Education Instructor of the Year

Beginning November

Each year the National Financial Educators Council honors an outstanding financial educator by presenting him or her with the coveted Financial Education Instructor of the Year Award. Each year we select one winner whose history of empowering people through financial literacy make them the best match for the NFEC’s award criteria. Nominate yourself of another.

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National Back-to-School Month

August

It’s that time of the year: parents across the country are sending their kids back to school. This campaign focuses on encouraging parents to take advantage of the back-to-school shopping time as a way to provide their children with financial education – using the shopping experience as a teachable moment.

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Lemonade Stand Day

August

The NFEC has been celebrating Lemonade Stand Day since 2011, when it was called Lemonade Stand Freedom Day (cities used to fine kids for running lemonade stands without a business license). The NFEC participates in the Lemonade Stand Day campaign to teach personal finance and entrepreneurship lessons to youth.

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Financial Independence Day

July

To achieve the American Dream in today’s volatile economic climate, a person must understand financial independence and take action toward reaching it. But becoming financially independent is difficult unless we can agree on the financial independence definition.

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Military Financial Literacy

May

All Military & Veterans (and spouses) – Gain access to our eVolve eLearning financial literacy platform. We’re offering the full course free to all active-duty military personnel and veterans who desire to improve their financial health.

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National Financial Educators Day

April

Financial Educators Day recognizes those individuals who are working to improve the financial capabilities of people in their communities. will honor educators with a Financial Educators Day Certificate of Appreciation. The only requirement is that the award recipient contributes positively to the financial literacy movement. Nominate yourself or another

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Take Your Child to Work Day

April

April 22 is Take Your Child to Work Day. Even parents working from home can take advantage of this opportunity to show kids what the work world is all about.

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Student Loan Debt

June

The student loan debt crisis is at a tipping point, with a debt default rate is higher than all consumer debt. The NFEC approaches looks at several aspects of this issue and asks for your support in a petition that calls for minors to be informed prior to committing to any student loan debt.

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In the Black Friday

November

“In the Black Friday” kicks off the NFEC’s holiday promotions that encourage people to reduce spending this holiday season and build savings instead. For parents, this promotion offers a timely educational opportunity to teach kids valuable personal finance lessons.

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Emotional & Mental Wellness Days

October

To help raise awareness about the link between mental health and financial wellness during October’s Emotional Wellness Month and Mental Illness Awareness Week, the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) is sharing new survey data and new information on the importance of financial literacy education.

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Cash for Candy

October

The NFEC encourages you to contribute to children’s physical and financial wellbeing by substituting ‘cash for candy’ this Halloween. The NFEC’s Cash for Candy Campaign℠ provides a fun solution that highlights your contribution to the community.

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National Preparedness Month

September

National Preparedness Month is a US government-promoted effort to encourage people to prepare for a variety of emergency situations. Founded in 2004 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the preparedness campaign is designed to remind people to proactively prepare for emergencies, natural disasters, and other disruptive events.

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Sunset Savings Time

March, November

Twice per year the Sunset Savings Time campaign reminds people to review their savings plan and make the changes needed to help them work toward long-term financial security. Sunset Savings Time occurs on Daylight Savings Time day to serve as an easy reminder – when you change your clocks, review your savings.

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Give Savings

December

The Give Savings Campaign is focused on helping people save for their longer-term financial goals by encouraging them to reduce the money they spend on purchasing gifts, while helping loved ones put money away for the future.

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Financial Wellness Research & Advocacy Center

December

The Financial Wellness Research and Advocacy Center is designed to provide information that can further the movement to increase awareness for financial wellness and promote high-quality programming.

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Latest Research, Surveys & Testing Data

National Financial Literacy Test Results

March

The latest Financial Literacy Test Results. More than 70,000 people from all 50 states participated in our financial literacy test and surveys. The test questions cover the ten subjects covered in the Financial Literacy Framework & Standards and has been featured in Huffington Post, The Hill, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, MarketWatch, Forbes, CNBC and USA Today. See the latest national test results – click here.

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Money and Relationships Survey

February

Each year during the month of February, we will provide new research and data that help us better understand the impact of money on our relationships; and offer resources to help others improve their relationships through financial empowerment.

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Cost of Financial Illiteracy

January

Each year the NFEC promotes the cost of financial illiteracy survey. These data are gathered from people around the country and the results help define the real costs of lacking money management knowledge. Featured on the front page of USA Today, MarketWatch, and MSNBC.

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Personal Finance & New Year’s Resolutions

January

Each New Year, many individuals set resolutions to enhance their lives during the coming year. The NFEC conducted a survey to better understand and clarify the role money plays in people achieving some of the most common New Year’s resolutions.

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Holiday Gift Giving Survey

December

In a recent NFEC survey, when asked, “What gift would you most like to receive this holiday season?” The most common response indicates that many are prefering to skip gift giving entirely this year.

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Financial Literacy Entrepreneurship Career Education Survey

November

The the National Financial Educators Council asked people, “Do you think high school students should have access to financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career education classes?”

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Should Financial Literacy be Taught in School Survey

August

The goal of this survey was to measure people’s opinions about the value of personal finance education relative to other coursework commonly offered in high school. The findings demonstrate that most people across the country agree that financial literacy is a topic that public schools should teach. See the results.

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Financial Independence Day Survey

July

Do you believe in the American Dream? Results of a new survey indicate that most U.S. adults still do. To coincide with Independence Day, the NFEC conducted this survey to discover whether Americans today perceive that financial independence is attainable.

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Educational Methodologies in Personal Finance Research Report

July

The educational methodologies developed by the NFEC support learners to develop positive financial behaviors, acquire financial knowledge, and establish systems that help them work toward stronger financial positions. Toward those ends, these research-based educational and financial principles incorporate insights from both the pedagogical canon as well as current research into how people change attitudes and behaviors.

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Parents’ and Children’s Money Survey

May, June

Parents play an important role in preparing their children to reach self-sufficiency and helping them establish a firm financial foundation. So the NFEC asked the survey question, “Which parent taught you the most about money and personal finance?” The full results are below.

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Updated Standards for Financial Educators

April

The NFEC updated the Framework for Teaching Personal Finance. These standards developed in partnership with the Danielson Group (creators of most widely accepted instructor standards in public education) to share benchmarks with the financial education industry and provides clear performance criteria. The qualifications set forth in the Framework give public assurance that financial education instructors are held to the highest standards of practice.

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Emergency Preparedness Survey

September

Financial preparedness includes proactively addressing emergency situations. This emergency preparedness survey measures people’s preparedness of their readiness for the next major issue that could interrupt their finances.

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Employee Financial Wellness Survey

September

The NFEC’s annual employee financial wellness survey quantifies the feelings of workers as related to their personal finances.

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Mental Health & Financial Wellbeing Survey

October

The Money and Mental Health survey demonstrates the connection between people’s finances and their emotional state. New data is released each October to raise awareness for Emotional Wellness Month and Mental Illness Awareness Week.

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Financial Guidance Survey

October

In a recent survey, the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) sought to learn where Americans turn when they need help with their personal finances. Specifically, they wanted to find out the proportion of American adults who have someone they trust to turn to for financial guidance.

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Advertising to Kids Survey

November

The Advertising to Kids survey was conducted to better understand how people feel about marketing to children; a demographic advertisers spend approximately $3 billion a year targeting.

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Financial Literacy Testing Data

October

View the latest results of our advanced financial education test or join over 10,000 people who took the exam. Our average score is just over 57%. Can you beat it?

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Educator Spotlight

2023 Financial Education Instructor of the Year Paul Goebel

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Educator Spotlight of the Quarter

Sunny Istar Lee, Financial Educator of the Year

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Karen Oeser, NFEC Certified Financial Coach

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Educator Spotlight of the Quarter

Brandy Speer, Personal Finance Speaker

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Educator Spotlight of the Quarter

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Educator Spotlight of the Quarter

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Financial Literacy News & NFEC Updates

Financial Advisor

The NFEC has launched a petition website to advocate for a comprehensive financial education program to be taught at all public schools nationwide.

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Marketwatch

CBS MarketWatch featured the NFEC’s survey on the cost of financial illiteracy to make a case for mandating high school personal finance classes.

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Nasdaq

Nasdaq interviewed NFEC CEO Vince Shorb for tips on improving financial literacy after highlighting the scores of over 53,000 participants (over 60,000 as of 2021) in the NFEC’s National Financial Literacy Test.

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Yahoo! Finance

A feature story describing Certified Financial Education Instructors and the role these instructors play in financial education.

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CNBC

For NFEC’s Love and Money Month promotion, CNBC created quiz about money and relationships.

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CNBC

“In the Black Friday”; the NFEC and others advocate spending less and avoiding debt this holiday season.

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The Motley Fool

A look at an NFEC survey on respondents’ level of concern for their finances and their degree of preparedness for the COVID-19 crisis.

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Marketwatch

CBS MarketWatch featured the NFEC’s survey on the cost of financial illiteracy to make a case for mandating high school personal finance classes.

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University of North Georgia

A team of Certified Financial Education Instructors was trained at UNG to teach personal finance on campus and in the community.

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Yahoo! Finance

A feature story describing Certified Financial Education Instructors and the role these instructors play in financial education.

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Academia.org

NFEC survey on the most beneficial course that could be taught in schools. Money management was chosen above all other topics.

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We’ve Grown!

NFEC launches new website – over 1,200 educational webpages to support financial educators.

New Educational Resources

New curriculum launches – significantly expanded resources & topics.

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New Financial Education Packages

New product line available – turnkey financial education program.

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Don’t Reinvest the Wheel

New complementary training course – How to Build a Financial Education Program.

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