Financial literacy 101: local organizations teach kids the rules of personal finance.

• Author: Siebrase, Jamie
• Position: EDUCATION

ROBIN WISE BELIEVES knowledge is power when it comes to money matters, and that's why she's determined to help the next generation become more financially literate.

"Not understanding the rules of personal finance is what keeps people poor," says Wise, president and CEO of Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain Inc., a nonprofit that provides in-school and after-school programs focusing on entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness.

Wise's organization has more company than ever in its quest to improve financial literacy. Educators and industries across Colorado have joined in, a reflection of a new economic reality that has made career changes commonptace and shifted retirement funding responsibilities from employer to individual.

"You used to get a pension," says J. Robert Brown, a professor at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law. "That doesn't happen anymore. Today you have to start planning for retirement in your twenties. But for that to happen, you'd have to know what to do."

The Great Recession that began around 2008 exposed a widespread lack of awareness of the risks associated with investing and personal finance. "The whole notion of a 401(k) being a guaranteed stable form of retirement savings is vulnerable," says Mark Goldman, director of corporate communications for TCF Bank. "We are in a 21st century banking environment, and the way we manage money today is different than it was just 15 years ago."

LESSON LEARNED

The recognition of these vulnerabilities has paved the way for increased educational efforts. But certain lessons--such as the merits of delayed gratification and planning ahead--can be challenging to teach and even harder to measure, Wise says. Her organization sends volunteers into neighborhood schools armed with sequential curriculum and charged with the task of weaving personal anecdotes into lessons.

In accordance with a state law passed in 2008, the Colorado Department of Education has added a financial literary component to the Colorado Student Assessment Program, the standardized test administered annually to public school students. This spring will be the first time this subject area is assessed in grades four, seven and 12, under the broader topic of social studies.

"In the last few years there have been mandates in public schools to require financial literacy, but there hasn't been funding to support these mandates," Goldman says. "ICE fills that void by bringing...