Washington, D.C. — In a significant nationwide push to bolster the economic security of American households, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced its strong support for the newly released National Strategy for Financial Literacy. Acting as a core member agency of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC), the bureau is aligning its extensive research and educational frameworks with the federal government’s updated blueprint designed to guide nationwide actions on building youth financial competency, developing good saving and investing habits, improving Americans’ knowledge of digital financial literacy, and learning how to avoid fraud and scams.

The newly unveiled national strategy comes at a critical time when consumers across the country navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape marked by digital currencies, sophisticated online scams, and evolving economic pressures. By joining forces across multiple federal departments, the initiative aims to create a cohesive, standardized approach to financial education that reaches individuals at every stage of life, from early childhood to retirement.

To support these overarching federal goals, the CFPB has already developed a robust suite of evidence-based financial education resources explicitly designed to help Americans increase their overall financial well-being. At the heart of this contribution is the CFPB’s youth financial education strategy, a comprehensive, research-based framework that outlines precisely when and how children and youth acquire the essential knowledge, skills, and behaviors associated with long-term adult financial well-being.

This specialized framework focuses heavily on supporting the improvement of executive functioning skills, creating and actively encouraging positive financial habits early in life, and building foundational financial knowledge and decision-making skills. According to the bureau’s educational models, these three foundational building blocks are systematically developed throughout childhood and adolescence, laying the groundwork for resilient economic decision-making in adulthood.

The National Strategy for Financial Literacy formally establishes four vital priority areas for the FLEC to focus its collective federal resources and collaborative efforts in the coming years. These core pillars are designed to address the most pressing vulnerabilities and opportunities facing American consumers today. Youth financial competency remains a paramount focus, ensuring that the next generation enters the workforce equipped with the basic tools of money management. Alongside youth education, the strategy emphasizes the critical need for individuals of all ages to develop and maintain robust, consistent saving and investing habits to secure their financial futures.

Furthermore, as modern commerce rapidly shifts away from traditional brick-and-mortar banking toward online platforms, mobile applications, and digital transactions, the strategy places a renewed emphasis on improving Americans’ comprehensive knowledge of digital financial literacy. Parallel to this technological advancement is the urgent necessity of consumer protection, with the strategy outlining coordinated educational measures to teach citizens how to effectively recognize, mitigate, and avoid the ever-growing landscape of fraud and financial scams targeting vulnerable populations.

Beyond establishing broad priority areas, the National Strategy for Financial Literacy meticulously identifies proven best practices for delivering effective financial education to the public. Delivering impactful education requires moving away from one-size-fits-all models toward targeted, meaningful interventions. Among the identified best practices is the necessity of providing actionable and timely education precisely at key financial decision points in a person’s life, such as when purchasing a home, funding higher education, or preparing to enter the workforce.

The strategy also underscores the importance of tailoring educational programming to specific life stages and individual situations, ensuring that the guidance provided resonates with the unique economic realities of young adults, working families, and seniors alike. To foster genuine behavioral change, effective programs must reinforce core concepts over time rather than relying on isolated, one-off seminars. Incorporating experiential and hands-on learning opportunities allows consumers to test financial concepts in low-risk environments, thereby solidifying their practical understanding. Additionally, the strategy calls for robust institutional support for high-quality instruction and rigorous ongoing evaluation of program effectiveness to ensure that federal and public resources yield measurable improvements in consumer financial health.

The formulation of this comprehensive national strategy was a collaborative undertaking, developed through extensive consultation with the diverse array of agencies represented within the FLEC framework, alongside valuable public input and independent, peer-reviewed research on financial literacy and education. This multi-faceted approach ensures that the resulting national framework reflects both the real-world experiences of American consumers and the empirical findings of economic researchers.

The FLEC itself has a long-standing mandate within the federal government, having been originally established by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. Congress created the commission with the explicit statutory mission to improve the financial literacy and education of persons residing in the United States through the development and promotion of a comprehensive national strategy. The leadership structure of the commission reflects its broad government-wide scope, composed of the heads of 23 distinct federal agencies alongside the White House Domestic Policy Council. The body is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the Acting Director of the CFPB serving in the vital role of Vice Chairman.

In alignment with the rollout of the new strategy, the leadership of the CFPB has continued to champion the integration of financial literacy as a core pillar of consumer protection and economic empowerment. Mark Paoletta, serving in his capacity as then-Deputy Director and now Acting Director, addressed the critical intersection of regulatory oversight and consumer education at the latest convening of the FLEC. His remarks detailed the ongoing, extensive work undertaken by the CFPB to advance financial literacy initiatives nationwide, emphasizing that true consumer protection requires not only enforcing fair lending laws and curbing deceptive practices, but also actively equipping citizens with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the financial marketplace with confidence and security.