Thrifty Thinking: Teach Children to Save Program

More than 10,700 bankers will host financial education events across the country this week as part of the 18^th annual Teach Children to Save Day, on April 11. Since 1997, the program, sponsored by the American Bankers Association, has reached 6 million children with the help of more than 130,500 banker volunteers.

While personal finance instruction has increased in schools, most young people are still not receiving enough education to be financially confident and capable.  The classroom lesson component of the Teach Children to Save program involves bankers teaching students financial skills through activities, interactive scenarios and sharing real-life experiences. The lessons cover the basics of saving, how interest makes money grow, how to create a budget and how to distinguish needs from wants.

“Every adult in a child’s life needs to take leadership in helping them build money skills that will last a lifetime,” said Frank Keating, ABA president and CEO. “That’s what this program is about, bankers taking this necessary and extraordinary role in shaping the financial capability of its students.”

In addition, ABA is launching new resources in light of Financial Capability Month to help parents educate their children. ABA partnered with the Corporation for Enterprise Development to create a Road Map to Financial Responsibility outlining pointers for parents to instill financial capability at every stage of their child’s life.  ABA also developed a new consumer website, aba.com/consumers, with personal finance resources on topics such as mortgages, credit cards, fighting fraud and saving for college to help consumers make knowledgeable financial decisions. 

The American Bankers Association represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the voice for the nation’s $14 trillion banking industry and its two million employees. Learn more at aba.com.