Financial Literacy and More

By Patrick D. Rogan, CPA

Each day we are bombarded with news about the economic crisis, continuing foreclosures and high levels of unemployment. Three times in the past 12 months, the California budget crisis has been top news for days and weeks. It is feared that the budget that was recently approved by the legislature will be out of balance again in a few months. These are sobering times, but here are some other facts that are also quite alarming.

• Of students who took the Jump$tart personal finance survey, 65.4 percent received failing scores.
• 40 percent of Americans say they live beyond their means.
• 45% percent of college students are in credit card debt and carry an average of three credit cards, each with an average balance of $2,748, or a total of over $8,000. At an annual interest rate of 16 percent, a card that is paid monthly at the minimum payment would take more than 27 years to pay off. University administrators state that they lose more students to credit card debt than to academic failure.
• The number of 18- to 24-year-olds declaring bankruptcy has increased 96 percent in 10 years.
• The average American family spends $1.22 for every dollar it earns.

And there are more alarming issues that are too numerous to mention.

In 2003 CalCPA launched a financial literacy initiative and created the CalCPA Financial Literacy Committee. Bruce Kajiwara and I have been members of that committee since its inception and are dedicated to improving Californians’ financial literacy. Bruce has written an excellent article in this month’s Bulletin that explains more about CalCPA’s efforts on financial literacy.

CPAs are the trusted advisers to small and medium-size businesses. Our financial literacy initiative helps the image of CPAs and reminds the general public about how important CPAs can be in their everyday lives. If you are interested in making a financial literacy presentation to a school, nonprofit organization or other group, be sure to update:

1. Your CalCPA profile by checking the box that states Financial Literacy Volunteer.
2. Your chapter profile. Select “Join a Chapter Interest Group Today” and check the Financial Literacy Committee.

You can also contact Bruce Kajiwara or me directly if you are interested.

Maybe you are not interested in making presentations, but how about making contact with the various organizations that are ideal for hosting a financial literacy presentation? Many of us participate in these types of groups in our everyday lives. They include youth groups, schools, PTAs, libraries, churches or other organizations.

Historically, CalCPA’s Redwood City office has generated the opportunities for chapter volunteers to speak at schools and other organizations based on user requests. Very few opportunities were created directly by chapter members. The next time you are at one of these groups, ask them if they would be interested in a presentation. You would be surprised at the positive response we would have if each member asked one organization if they wanted CalCPA to present on financial literacy matters.

Once you make contact, let Bruce or me know, and we will have the appropriate people contact the group for follow-up and scheduling.

Be sure to attend our chapter’s September events:

• MAP Committee: Wednesday, Sept. 2
• Estate Planning Committee: Tuesday, Sept. 15
• Litigation Consulting Committee:Thursday, Sept. 17
• Accounting Principles & Auditing Standards Committee: Tuesday, Sept. 22
• Taxation Committee: Thursday, Sept. 24
• The launch of the Roseville discussion group: Wednesday, Sept. 9

Check the chapter calendar of events for more details and other CPE and networking opportunities.

I welcome your comments and suggestions and would like to hear from you. Contact me via e-mail. I read each comment and respond.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 1:08 pm and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.