Lieu Brings Together Leading Experts to Discuss Financial Literacy

Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Ted Lieu, chair of the Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance, today convened a special informational hearing of the committee to discuss the topic of financial literacy.  The hearing included testimony from leading experts from the financial services industry, as well as representatives from non-profit groups and academia.

“Financial literacy” generally refers to a person’s ability to understand basic financial concepts, including saving, investing, and calculating annual percentage rates.  Nationwide, when high school seniors are tested on their knowledge of simple financial principles, they score less than 50%, and the average college freshman has 3 credit cards and more than $3,000 in debt. 

“This is a crisis,” Lieu said.  “More and more Americans are spending their way into bankruptcy, and are vulnerable to predatory scams because they don’t understand what they are signing.”

Lieu cited statistics that, nationally, the savings rate has fallen into negative territory for the first time since the Great Depression.  This means that, not only are Americans failing to save, we’re borrowing beyond our means to fuel our spending habits.

The centerpiece of the hearing was testimony from John Hope Bryant, and Founder and President of Operation Hope, a non-profit that promotes financial literacy as a way out of poverty.  Bryant is the world-renowned author of Banking on the Future, a book that lays out financial literacy as a means to lift communities out of poverty.

Assemblymember Lieu has also introduced AB 150, which is a placeholder for legislation to promote financial literacy.  Lieu hoped that today’s hearing would provide some ideas for how to proceed on this issue.

Assemblymember Ted Lieu represents the 53rd District, which includes the cities of El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, and portions of the City of Los Angeles.