April is National Financial Literacy Month and to celebrate, the Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition is observing Money Smart Week, April 22-29. Helping to promote financial education statewide, the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA) is offering free Financial Fitness Kits through public libraries, including the Luther Public Library, Tinker Federal Credit Union branches and online at www.KnowWhatCounts.org.
The 13th annual Money Smart Week (formerly Jump$tart Your Money Week) brings organizations, businesses and schools together to educate Oklahomans about important money issues. While Money Smart Week offers resources and classes across the state, the OSCPA’s free Financial Fitness Kits were created to help Oklahomans year-round with a variety of financial issues.
In the recent “2017 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard” by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), 22 percent of Oklahoma households are “underbanked,” meaning they use services such as non-bank money orders or check cashing services. Additionally, nearly half—49.1 percent—of Oklahomans live in liquid asset poverty, meaning they have no liquid savings to cover basic expenses for three months if they experienced a sudden financial crisis.
The OSCPA’s free Financial Fitness Kits include sections on establishing a budget, understanding insurance, facing family issues, dealing with taxes, beginning investing, preparing for and overcoming a crisis and more. This is the 10th year the OSCPA has partnered with libraries across Oklahoma for kit distribution.
“The positive comments we receive from the librarians and the public encourage our members, CPAs, to continuously strive to make the OSCPA Financial Fitness Kit the best it can be,” said Amy Welch, OSCPA communications director. “We are grateful to the libraries that help us get this valuable information to Oklahomans across the state”
Kits can also be downloaded from www.KnowWhatCounts.org.
