According to Investopedia, the definition of Financial Literacy is "understanding of various financial areas including topics related to managing personal finance, money and investing. This topic focuses on the ability to manage personal finance matters in an efficient manner, and it includes the knowledge of making appropriate decisions about personal finance such as investing, insurance, real estate, paying for college, budgeting, retirement and tax planning."
Essentially, you are financially literate if you can make informed decisions & take action around your investments, tax liabilities, household budget and savings. People have been doing it for generations and consider it an elementary skill of adulthood. But, is it really that simple? Absolutely not.
Consider the arc of life and how technology has become the gatekeeper to all things finance in the past 30 years. Gone are the days of bank pass books and paper stock certificates. Today, personal finance exists in apps and real time dashboard data. So, while the knowledge of investment, tax & finance may exist in spades for the boomer generation the method to manage is a whole new ball game.
In actuality, remaining financially literate is more about technology and less about the math. It is almost akin to the struggles I have helping my middle schooler with her math homework. While we are both landing on the right answer, my method is antiquated & no longer valid. The boomer generation is facing the same annoying scenario - they can justify a change to an investment or prep for taxes but the method to make it happen changed on them.
Adding a financial caregiver or concierge to the mix is the best solution. While maintaining the independence & autonomy of the individual, the concierge can act as the interpreter of the technological maze that governs their financial world. Why surrender your financial decision making when all you need is a wing man?
This also holds true for the minefield of Medicare - another foreign language with a heavy layer of technology the senior community must adapt to once they are of age. Again, a financial caregiver will act as the content expert that gives the individual the tools and knowledge to apply the best decision making that fits within their lifestyle and circumstances.
Leveraging a financial concierge creates an additional layer of security around finances and home that is beneficial to anyone at any point in life.
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