November 27th, 2009 | 
Author: Financial literacy is a lot more than the ability to handle a checkbook. It involves the ability to make financial choices, understand money and plan the expenditure over a long term. Everyone must realize that it is not enough to earn money. It is equally important to learn how to manage that money. Those who fail to do so end up in debt, even though they may be earning handsome salaries.
Few people realize the importance of personal financial goals. As an individual you must analyze your current financial situation and make a financial plan. This plan must provide for your day-to-day needs. What is left must be invested for the future. Please remember that everyone has to retire one day, and you must have sufficient funds for that day.
The difficulty is that not everyone is financial literate. In fact, the majority of people do not know how to make their money work. This is where schools government, media, parents, community organizations and volunteers can come in handy. They must educate the common man in the art of handling money.
This education should begin early. Parents and teachers should teach children the importance of saving money. Later, in college and universities students must be given lessons in investment. This should be done in working life too, where employers can take the help of voluntary organizations to make their employees financially literate. Similarly, community teachings should be organized for weaker sections of the society because these people stand to benefit most from such classes.
The role of government cannot be stressed enough in bringing about financial literacy. All governments must realize that happy nations are those whose citizens are financially literate. The same applies to media. They must run personal finance columns that can be used by people to plan their finances.
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