WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal agencies are shifting financial-literacy efforts toward youth, saving and investing, digital finance and fraud prevention under a new national strategy that sets government-wide priorities for financial education programs and resources.
The 2026 U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy establishes four priority areas for the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, or FLEC: youth financial capability, saving and investing, digital financial literacy, and scams and fraud education.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a member of the commission, is supporting the strategy with its existing financial-education resources and research on how children and young adults develop financial skills and behaviors.
For younger Americans, the strategy calls for building basic financial skills beginning in childhood and continuing through young adulthood. The CFPB’s framework focuses on executive-function skills, financial habits, knowledge and decision-making as building blocks for later financial well-being.
Saving and investing is another priority, with the federal strategy seeking to increase understanding of ways to build financial security and meet longer-term goals. That effort includes promoting awareness of Trump Accounts, the new savings and investment accounts for children.
The digital-finance component focuses on giving consumers the knowledge and decision-making skills needed to use increasingly digital financial products and services. Fraud education is intended to help consumers recognize scams, avoid them and limit losses when fraud occurs.
The strategy also calls for financial education to be delivered when consumers are making important financial decisions rather than relying solely on generalized instruction.
Other recommended practices include tailoring education to different life stages and circumstances, reinforcing concepts over time, incorporating hands-on learning, improving the quality of instruction and measuring whether programs are effective.
The commission developed the strategy using input from participating federal agencies, the public and independent financial-literacy research. FLEC is chaired by the Treasury secretary and includes federal agencies and the White House Domestic Policy Council.
The CFPB maintains consumer financial-education resources at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/ and youth financial-education materials at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/educator-tools/youth-financial-education/.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.