Financial Education is essential.
Individuals at every stage of life have the right to knowledge and tools that can lead to making better decisions about money.
The UChicago Financial Education Initiative seeks to empower all individuals to navigate the financial system with confidence, make informed and reasoned financial decisions throughout their lives, and realize long-term financial well-being.
Develop Critical Consumers
Financial education should empower individuals to become smart and critical consumers, not pliant customers.
Embrace Differences
Financial education should acknowledge individual differences and systemic inequities and build on the diversity of financial experiences of individuals.
Embolden Individuals
Financial education should engender in people the belief that they can affect their financial well-being and should empower them to make informed financial decisions, examine financial systems, and thereby improve their quality of life.
Develop Understandings and Skills
Financial education should provide individuals with carefully selected, relevant, and useful content knowledge that prepares them to develop new skills and understandings as financial circumstances and systems change.
Reflect Life Experiences
Financial well-being is influenced not just by financial education, but by life experiences, individual differences, access to financial institutions, and other contextual factors.