On Thanksgiving, Make Financial Education a Tradition

Thanksgiving is widely associated with holiday sales and turkey feasts.  Families get together and begin thinking about year-end holidays and new year’s resolutions.  But increasingly, consumers’ thoughts are becoming clouded with the growing debt  they carry, the weak and volatile market environment, and the financial stress that is characterizing their lives.  What should we do about that?  Make financial education a tradition on Thanksgiving.

The topic of financial literacy is rising to the top of national political, legislative and social agendas, with new and innovative financial education programs launching every day.  But financial  education has been missing in too many of our homes.  We can use Thanksgiving as time to change this on multiple fronts.

One of the greatest gifts we can share with our families and friends on this and every Thanksgiving is financial intelligence.  We should look for teachable moments that we can share.   Here are a few examples:

• Teaching about “trade-offs” is as important as any lesson.  Children in particular often do not recognize that money is not an unlimited commodity.   Financial resource constraints may inhibit our ability to serve everything we want for the Thanksgiving meal…and that is for those lucky enough to even afford a meal on Thanksgiving.  That’s a key point that young people need to understand and internalize, as the concept of “trade-offs” has applications in every other life experience.

• While we are bombarded with advertisements of Thanksgiving sales at small and large retailers, we also need to understand the concept of a budget, and that even the most highly discounted merchandise may still be unaffordable.  Budgeting also helps consumers be more proactive regarding the types of products we pursue.

• With purchases increasingly being made on credit cards, Thanksgiving also is a great time to teach friends and family members about the limitations and potential issues associated with the use of plastic for buying desired items.  Credit card debt in soaring throughout the world and the problems sparked by this increasing debt have been documented far and wide. Thanksgiving is a great time to focus on educating relating to credit and debt in any teachable moment when a purchase is discussed or made.

Providing friends and family members with the financial information they need to better understand financial concepts and better manage their personal financial affairs is one of the best gifts we can give them this Thanksgiving.  It’s a gift that will have great impact on them this holiday season – and for years to come.