Teaching Financial Literacy across the Generations

This article describes a tool developed by educators of the University of Minnesota Extension and University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension to assist professionals as they plan financial education for participants. In today's changing economy, financial education is essential throughout one's life cycle. By understanding learner attributes, educators can create motivating learning environments and seek appropriate teaching methods to capture participant attention. Multi-generational complications may arise as people view and communicate about money differently. The financial literacy grid was developed to examine generational characteristics, life cycle tasks, financial concepts, and appropriate teaching techniques to meet learner needs.