It’s back to school season and across Connecticut, families are getting young people ready for school so that they can learn what they need to know to become productive, responsible and successful adults. In their late teens and twenties, young people face many important decisions – among them may be signing a lease on an apartment, applying for a credit card, taking out student loans and possibly buying cars and homes. How do we prepare students to be in the best position possible to understand both their options and responsibilities so that they can make wise decisions?

UConn Extension provides financial literacy and personal finance education workshops in partnership with schools, youth-serving agencies and organizations, businesses with young employees as well as cities and towns. Financial education programs are available for parents of children in pre-kindergarten programs, elementary school children to young adults in their early twenties.

Offered in partnership with schools, community organizations and agencies, the Welcome to the Real World, Connecticut Edition Simulation gives young people (middle school to college age/young adults) the opportunity to imagine their lives as young employed adults. They select occupations, find out their incomes and estimated taxes, and open checking and savings accounts. They then visit tables and interact with adult volunteers as they make common spending decisions. Through the learning exercise, they learn about managing money, living within their incomes, identifying spending priorities, saving and dealing with unexpected expenses.

Parents are an important key in a child’s financial education. Yet the seventh annual Financial Literacy Survey of U.S. adults, conducted in 2013 on behalf of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Inc., showed that 40% of adults surveyed gave themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance. UConn Extension offers a variety of financial education workshops for adults and young people. The Parents, Kids and Money Workshop provides parents with education and resources to help them teach their children about money.  Teaching the Financial Facts of Life Workshop encourages those working or volunteering in youth-serving organizations to incorporate financial literacy skills within their programming. The Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck Workshop Series focuses on helping people develop and apply financial plans to help them reach their goals.

For more information about these and other financial education workshops throughout the lifespan, contact Faye Griffiths-Smith at 203.407.3160 or faye.griffiths-smith@uconn.edu.