At Home with UAEX

Learn from the best Extension Educators on being at home with UAEX!

April is Financial Literacy Month!

Everyone can benefit from solid money management practices.

by Megan Wells, guest contributor and Program Associate - Family Resource Management

Since the resolution passed in 2003, April has been designated as Financial Literacy Month. The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service - Family Consumer Sciences (FCS) Agents are a reliable, research based, unbiased resource that the community can count on to build a solid foundation in money management practices. Whether it’s introducing the basics of money as early as preK through a series of literature with “Money on the Bookshelf”, preparing a high school student to start the journey of adulthood with “Get Real”, or a young adult needing to shape up their budget, to titling property in estate planning, the community can count on their county FCS agent! After all it is your money, your goals that the agents work with to help set you on the path towards financial security. With wise use of credit and a good spending plan, you can rest easy by making informed financial decisions from the knowledge gained from Extension programming.

Youth (5–12 year-old)

Reading Makes Cents is a financial literacy and reading curriculum for children in grades 3–5. There are 7 lessons that can be used to teach basic money management concepts such as saving, sharing, spending, managing, earning borrowing and leading.

Money As You Grow (formally Money on the Bookshelf): is a family financial education program that uses children’s books to help families talk about and discover money skills. It helps children and their parents and caregivers learn money concepts through reading, play, and quiet one-on-one talks. There are a total of 21 selected books including the parent lesson guides for each book.

Money & Math Lessons: Four lessons that can be used individually or as a series of lessons. Topics include lessons over checking writing, consumer decision making, needs verses wants with 80/10/10 guideline for Spend, Save, and Share, gross and net income; fixed, variable, and periodic expenses, and will practice making spending decisions with The Spending Game.

Older Youth (13-19 years old)

Get Real is designed for three one-hour sessions with a hands-on experiential simulation that gives participants the opportunity to experience their future in a financial decision-making mode. As youth move from each simulation station to the next, they make decisions based on their family size and affordability. The three sessions include a preparation day, simulation day and a follow up evaluation day.

 Adult

Estate Planning is arranging for the orderly transfer of your assets (property) following death. The ideal estate plan minimizes taxes, expenses and delays, and assures that your assets reach the intended heirs. Weather Planning AHEAD, deciding Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate to basic documents, we can help provide the education to plan your estate.

Navigating Your Financial Journey:  The four components can be used separately for shorter or one-time events.  Lessons develop knowledge in Budget Development, Money Management, Wise Use of Credit, and Consumer Protection. There are evaluation forms for each section and an overall evaluation form for the course.

Small Steps to Health & Wealth is a national Cooperative Extension program designed to help participants reach personal finance and health goals. Learn proven behavior change strategies. Built around a framework of 25 research-based behavior change strategies can be used as a yearlong series or individually.

Your Money, Your Goals is a set of financial empowerment tools that help participants meet their financial goals by increasing their knowledge, skills, and resources.

Supplemental Your Money, Your Goals Lessons: The tools include companion guides for: military communities, native communities, people with disabilities, and people with criminal records. Each of these guides supports the toolkit by helping you contextualize the money conversation to the unique needs of specific populations.

• Re-Entry
• Military
• Native Communities
• Disabilities

Grab & Go Lesson Topics - these are great lessons that may be useful for civic groups, Extension Homemakers, volunteer groups, or other social groups that want to learn something new!

• Insurance
• Time Management
• Stretch Your Dollar
• Staycation
• Six Ways to Increase Wealth
• Consumer Protection
• Financial Best Care Lessons
• Leader Training Guides
• Your Vehicle
• Money Saving Strategies
• Medicare Fraud