WASHINGTON, D.C. — As an active member agency of the federal Financial Literacy and Education Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has formally announced its strong support for the newly unveiled National Strategy for Financial Literacy. This sweeping federal initiative is designed to serve as a comprehensive roadmap for guiding nationwide actions aimed at fostering youth financial competency, cultivating responsible saving and investing habits among citizens, dramatically improving Americans’ comprehensive understanding of digital financial literacy, and equipping the public with the vital practical knowledge needed to successfully identify, avoid, and protect themselves against modern fraud, scams, and deceptive financial practices.

The release of the updated national strategy marks a significant collaborative milestone across the federal government, bringing together multiple agencies to address the evolving financial landscape and the unique economic pressures facing households today. In alignment with these broader national objectives, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has spent years developing rigorous, evidence-based financial education resources specifically engineered to help everyday Americans meaningfully increase their overall financial well-being and security.

Central to the agency’s ongoing contributions is its specialized youth financial education strategy, which functions as a robust, research-backed framework detailing precisely when and how children and youth naturally acquire the essential knowledge, skills, and behavioral patterns that ultimately correlate with long-term adult financial well-being. This specialized developmental framework focuses on three core building blocks that children progressively develop throughout their formative years: improving vital executive functioning skills, creating and intentionally encouraging positive everyday financial habits, and systematically building comprehensive financial knowledge paired with sound decision-making capabilities. By focusing on these foundational stages early in life, the framework seeks to establish a resilient baseline of financial capability that persists well into adulthood.

The newly established National Strategy for Financial Literacy lays out a series of core priority areas intended to synchronize the efforts of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission and its diverse network of federal stakeholders. Beyond establishing these overarching priorities, the strategy thoroughly identifies and highlights industry-recognized best practices for delivering effective, impactful financial education to the public.

Among these identified best practices is the critical importance of providing actionable, timely education precisely at key financial decision points in an individual’s life, such as when purchasing a home, taking on higher education debt, or planning for major life milestones. The strategy further emphasizes the necessity of tailoring educational interventions to specific life stages and individual personal situations, reinforcing complex financial concepts over time rather than relying on isolated one-off interactions, incorporating experiential and hands-on learning methods that drive real-world comprehension, supporting high-quality instruction within educational and community settings, and rigorously evaluating program effectiveness to ensure that public resources yield measurable, positive outcomes.

The formulation of this comprehensive strategy was achieved through an extensive and inclusive development process, drawing upon thorough consultations with the various federal agencies represented within the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, valuable public input gathered from stakeholders across the country, and independent research examining the most effective current approaches to financial literacy and education.

The Financial Literacy and Education Commission itself operates with a distinct statutory mandate, having been originally established by Congress under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. Its foundational mission is to significantly improve the financial literacy and education of persons living throughout the United States through the creation, implementation, and continuous updating of a coordinated national strategy designed to promote widespread financial education.

Structurally, the commission brings together high-level leadership from across the federal government, being composed of the heads of 23 distinct federal agencies alongside the influential White House Domestic Policy Council. The commission is led in an official capacity by the Secretary of the Treasury, who serves as the Chairman, while the leadership team is rounded out by the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who serves in the critical role of Vice Chairman. This high-level interagency cooperation underscores the federal government’s collective recognition that financial literacy is a matter of paramount national economic importance.

The deep institutional commitment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to these overarching national goals was highlighted at the most recent commission gathering. During the latest meeting of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, then-Deputy Director Mark Paoletta—who now serves as the agency’s Acting Director—delivered a comprehensive address detailing the multifaceted work the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is currently undertaking in the realm of financial literacy, emphasizing the agency’s dedication to empowering consumers of all ages to navigate an increasingly complex economic environment with confidence and security.