Cooperative Extension's money-management educational outreach plays a role

The nation's first state-to-state survey measuring Americans' financial savvy found New Hampshire residents among the most financially astute in the nation. Granite State participants scored in the top five states in four out of five topic areas.

Developed in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation Financial Capability Survey collected information from more than 28,000 respondents--about 500 in each state--from June through October, 2009.

Cooperative Extension financial-management education reaches all age and income groups

"While we can't demonstrate a direct connection between our educational outreach and the heightened financial awareness of New Hampshire citizens, we'd like to think our years of family financial-management education has made a difference," says Suzann Enzian Knight, Extension family resource management specialist.

"For more than 20 years, UNH Cooperative Extension in every county has placed a priority on helping increase people's knowledge and skills of personal finance so they can make informed decisions regarding their income and expenses."

"In the past five years, our face-to-face money-management presentations have reached more than 20,000 people of all ages and income levels," Knight says. "We also provide information through mainstream news media, websites, brochures, and pamphlets."

Many programs, many partners

"Some of our money-management programs stay the same regardless of economic situation," Knight says. "We develop others around special topics based on changing economic circumstances, for example, our series entitled, Managing Money in Tough Times. In recent years we've targeted family farmers with help in debt reduction, estate planning, and other topics."

"We conduct our work in conjunction with many state and local partners and coalitions, including the NH Jumpstart Coalition, the NH Community Loan Fund, the Statewide Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Alliance and the New Hampshire Departments of Agriculture and Banking," Knight says.

Demonstrable outcomes

"Our program evaluations find that more than 85 percent of Extension program participants document an increase in their financial capability and improved money-management practices, " Knight says. "These improved practices include putting together a debt repayment calendar, requesting their credit report, developing a spending/savings plan, paying more than the minimum on a credit card, establishing or adding to an emergency fund, and reviewing their insurance policies."

N.H. #1 in "financial literacy"

In the FINRA study, New Hampshire survey participants scored first in the nation in the area of financial knowledge and decision making--what the report calls "financial literacy," understanding the concepts of economics and finance as they apply to everyday life.

The other categories involved:

• Sound borrowing practices: New Hampshire placed second, after New Jersey.
• Comparison shopping (for credit cards): New Hampshire placed 4th.
• Planning ahead by salting away a rainy day fund: New Hampshire placed 4th.
• Making ends meet (able to spend less than they earn): New Hampshire only hit the national average in this category; 20 percent of Granite Staters spent more than they earned.

Even though New Hampshire adults rank high in "financial capability" among other states, we still have a lot of room for improvement. The state FINRA survey found:

• 20 percent of individuals reported that their household spent more than their income in the previous year.
• More than half lack a rainy-day fund to cover expenses for three months, in case of emergencies such as sickness, job loss or economic downturn.
• 15 percent reported using one or more non-bank borrowing methods (such as payday loans) in the past five years.
• 58 percent of individuals said that they didn't collect and compare information about cards from more than one company when they got their last credit card.

More information

FINRA Investor Education Foundation US Financial Capability Study Get information about various aspects of the nationwide survey; take a financial literacy quiz.
Managing Money UNH Cooperative Extension resources for family resource management.
Money-management workshop calendar Cooperative Extension financial-education workshops in your area.

Questions about household money management? Call the Extension Family & Consumer Resources educator in your county