It was with great interest that I read Laura Enock's op-ed regarding our country not needing financial education–only financial responsibility. Not only was your piece misguided and the tone condescending, it is also offensive to anyone who teaches financial education or has ever had a financial problem. In my 11 years of teaching and counseling thousands of families and individuals, I have met many hard-working, well-intentioned, responsible, intelligent families with financial problems. The vast majority of them want to live up to their financial responsibilities; they just need some help knowing exactly how to do that.
Enock's statement "with the exception of the truly ignorant, most Americans already know everything that they need to know…" is just flat out wrong. Yes, there really are many otherwise intelligent people that do not know how to balance a checkbook or understand the overall cost of interest. Others may have been pressured or tricked by high pressure sales tactics from quota driven lenders. Others just think in the here and now and don't stop to read the fine print or contemplate the consequences. Enock's assumption that most people are in debt because they bought wheels they could not afford, borrowed against their house to take a vacation, or are merely keeping up with the Joneses shows just how out of touch with Middle America she must be. Every day, I come into contact with many people that may use loans or credit cards to buy gas, medication, groceries and pay utility bills because the cost of living is rising faster than their incomes or unexpected life events are impacting their bottom line. Most lack sufficient savings and have never learned the disciplines necessary to save money.
Enock claimed that most people already have all of the knowledge they need. I'd like to know where you think they obtained this knowledge. If their parents did not teach them (how can they when they are having trouble themselves?) and they did not learn it in school, many people simply don't ever learn it.
When Enock was researching studies and only found ones stating that financial education doesn't work (which I'd love to see, by the way), she must have missed the ones demonstrating how early results show it to be incredibly promising. In fact, the President of the United States just formed a President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, and many states are now mandating that financial education be taught in public schools. While there is obviously still a huge financial problem in the U.S., how much bigger would it be without financial education? Enock must also have missed the 2005 study from Harvard stating that 91% of all people filing bankruptcy have either suffered a serious illness, divorce or job loss. Even the most financially responsible individual would be hard pressed to recover from one of these catastrophic life events without some financial education.
Further, I found it very ironic that on Enock's very own home page at www.cuva.org, she sells financial education newsletter content to credit unions and proclaims that financial education is important to credit unions. While I agree with Enock's basic assumption that Americans need to take responsibility for their actions and decisions, implying that they are either "truly ignorant" or deadbeats is certainly not going to garner a lot of support.
I do hope that Enock will open her mind to the possibility that while financial responsibility must be a key component, financial education still has a place in our society. True financial education does not merely contain information on abusing credit cards, the long-term consequences of a home equity loan, etc. We don't just teach people about banking, credit cards, loans, credit and credit scores, savings, retirement and other topics; we teach them how to put that knowledge to practical use and apply it in their everyday lives. We teach them to think about the big picture and long-term consequences of impulsive financial decisions. Enock will also be very relieved to know that I never blame the system in any of the classes that I teach or let anyone use lack of education as an excuse. I believe very strongly in financial responsibility. If you borrow money, pay it back. Don't get in over your head. Keep your part of the bargain. I feel that financial responsibility and financial education go hand in hand and that you can't truly have one without the other.
Jennifer Wallis
President Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition
Vice President Consumer Credit
Counseling Service Of Central Oklahoma
Bethany, Okla.
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