Financial Literacy Month
WHEREAS, it is essential to the Commonwealth that its citizenry be financially literate and responsible and able to properly manage money, credit, and debt; and
WHEREAS, it is incumbent upon the Commonwealth to support initiatives that promote and advance financial literacy education; and
WHEREAS, United States consumer debt totaled more than $2.5 trillion by January 2009, of which credit card debt alone exceeded $817 billion; and
WHEREAS, Americans continue to face the threat of home foreclosure, and the number of U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings in 2009 hit double-digit increases over the previous year; and
WHEREAS, one quarter of all Americans said they would file for bankruptcy if faced with an unmanageable financial emergency; and
WHEREAS, Americans now save, on average, less than 1 percent of their income; and
WHEREAS, 65 percent of parents have saved less than $5,000 per child toward college, including 43 percent who have saved nothing at all; and
WHEREAS, in a 2008 nationwide survey, the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy found that high school seniors scored an average of only 48 percent on an exam testing basic knowledge of personal finance and money management; and
WHEREAS, students in Virginia must take a one-credit course on economics and personal finance to complete their requirements for graduation from high school; and
WHEREAS, the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants has a pro bono Financial Fitness program that puts licensed CPAs in the community to educate the public on personal finance issues; and
WHEREAS, other public, consumer, community-based, and private sector organizations throughout the Commonwealth are working to increase financial literacy for Virginians of all ages; and
WHEREAS, during Financial Literacy Month, I encourage all Virginians to take advantage of the many educational resources available that help encourage responsible financial planning and personal budgeting;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert F. McDonnell, do hereby recognize April 2010 as FINANCIAL LITERACY MONTH in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.