CORDRAY CONCERNED ABOUT DECLINE SHOWN BY NEW SURVEY RESULTS

(Cleveland) – While the financial literacy of teenagers and young adults is declining nationally, it is apparently sinking even faster and farther in Ohio according to survey results released today, and the state treasurer vowed to put more pressure on lawmakers and leaders to address the issue.

Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray expressed concern about results released this morning by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake of a biennial survey of high school students conducted by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Nationwide, their average score was a failing 48.3 percent – down from 52.4 percent in 2006. Students in Ohio fared even worse, scoring 45.6 percent, a decline from 48.4 percent in 2006.

College students, who were surveyed nationally for the first time, did not perform much better, docking in at only 62 percent, considered a failing grade at most universities.

“These results are disappointing but not surprising. For too long, we all have been left to learn how to handle our personal finances through the difficult process of trial-and-error, but our financial world of today is far more complex than it was even several years ago,” Cordray said. “Problems which used to present just a little bit of financial trouble can now have much farther-reaching, longer-lasting, and more serious implications. This is why more personal financial education is needed, which is what the Ohio Treasury has been working toward.”

Cordray and chairmen of the Ohio House and Senate Finance Committees yesterday announced legislation to create the SaveNOW program, which Cordray proposed in January. The program ties financial education to savings accounts that allow Ohioans to earn above-market interest rates for up to one year.

Working with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Council of Economic Education, Cordray last year conducted a series of Teachers Academy programs statewide, providing nearly 500 educators with the latest in financial literacy tools and curriculum ideas for the classroom.

“Financial education will be required for high school students beginning in 2010,” Cordray noted, “but clearly we should do all we can as soon as possible to give young adults in our state the tools they need to make sound decisions about managing money and creating a level playing field.”

The weak performance of college students is another warning signal, Cordray added. “A shaky understanding of the consequences of financial decisions is of utmost concern to not only college students themselves, who face the early stages of financial independence in a time of heavy debt and an weak economy, but to banks and financial institutions who are ultimately responsible for lending to, and dealing with the financial blunders that today’s college students will face.

Cordray acknowledged: “This is an uphill economic battle that must be won in order to ensure the next generation a profitable economy in which to live and grow in Ohio.”

For more information about SaveNOW, visit www.YourMoneyNowOnline.org, click on “General” and “SaveNOW”.

To view results of the 2008 Jump$tart survey or to take quiz yourself, log onto www.YourMoneyNowOnline.org and click on “Teachers” and “Jump$tart Student Survey”.