Washington, D.C. — As a prominent member agency of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has officially announced its strong support for the newly released National Strategy for Financial Literacy. This nationwide initiative is designed to serve as a definitive guide for coordinated public actions aimed at strengthening youth financial competency, fostering robust saving and investing habits, enhancing the American public’s understanding of digital financial literacy, and equipping individuals with the practical tools necessary to avoid increasingly sophisticated financial fraud and consumer scams.

The unveiling of this comprehensive strategy marks a significant collaborative milestone across the federal government. The Financial Literacy and Education Commission was originally established by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 with a statutory mission to improve the financial literacy and education of persons residing throughout the United States through the development of a unified national strategy. Today, the commission brings together the leadership of 23 federal agencies alongside the White House Domestic Policy Council. The organization is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, while the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau serves as the Vice Chairman, placing the bureau at the forefront of national policy discussions regarding consumer education and empowerment.

In alignment with the broader goals of the newly minted national strategy, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has long been active in developing evidence-based financial education resources intended to help everyday Americans measure and increase their overall financial well-being. Among these initiatives is the bureau’s dedicated youth financial education strategy, which functions as a rigorous, research-based framework. This framework outlines the specific developmental milestones regarding when and how children and youth naturally acquire the essential knowledge, skills, and behavioral patterns that strongly correlate with long-term adult financial well-being.

The bureau’s youth-focused framework is structured around three foundational building blocks that children develop progressively as they mature: improving executive functioning skills, creating and encouraging positive financial habits, and building robust financial knowledge and decision-making capabilities. By focusing on these developmental stages early in life, the framework seeks to lay a solid groundwork that prevents financial distress later in adulthood. This approach mirrors the broader philosophy of the National Strategy for Financial Literacy, which emphasizes that early intervention and consistent education are vital components of a resilient economy.

The National Strategy for Financial Literacy establishes four core priority areas for the Financial Literacy and Education Commission to focus its collective resources and collaborative energy. Beyond these priority areas, the strategy identifies a series of best practices designed to optimize how financial education is delivered to the public. These proven methodologies include providing actionable, timely education precisely at critical financial decision points in an individual’s life, tailoring educational content to specific life stages and unique individual situations, and consistently reinforcing core concepts over time to ensure long-term retention and behavioral change.

Furthermore, the strategy strongly advocates for incorporating experiential and hands-on learning opportunities into educational programs, supporting high-quality instruction for educators and mentors, and rigorously evaluating program effectiveness to ensure that public and private initiatives deliver measurable, positive results for participants. These best practices were developed through an extensive and inclusive process, drawing heavily upon direct consultation with the diverse agencies represented within the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, extensive public input from stakeholders across the country, and independent academic research dedicated to the fields of financial literacy and education.

The importance of these concerted federal efforts was recently underscored during official commission proceedings. Mark Paoletta, serving then as Deputy Director and now as Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, delivered remarks at the latest Financial Literacy and Education Commission meeting detailing the bureau’s ongoing and expanded work in the realm of financial literacy. The bureau continues to make its extensive catalog of consumer tools and educator resources freely accessible to the public, ensuring that educators, parents, and community leaders have continuous access to the materials necessary to foster financial capability nationwide.