Financial Literacy: VSCPA Letter to Legislators 

January 27, 2005

A personal letter to all members of the General Assembly

Re: Senate Bill 950 (Potts) Economics education and financial literacy in the public schools and institutions of higher education.

Dear Senator,

The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA) supports SB 950 bolstering financial literacy objectives for the public schools in the Commonwealth.

The VSCPA is working tirelessly to improve the fiscal health of young adults and all Virginians through a Financial Fitness initiative. In 2004, Governor Warner proclaimed October 17-23 as Financial Fitness Week in Virginia at the VSCPA's request. Startling statistics face us as a nation and as a Commonwealth:

  • Nearly half of all Americans are unfamiliar with the impact retirement planning can have on preparing them for the future.
  • Only a quarter of Americans feel very well informed about managing household finances.
  • Research commissioned by Northwestern Mutual reveals that 43 percent of parents believe schools should be doing more to teach kids about money.
  • Children's spending has roughly doubled every 10 years for the past three decades and tripled in the 1990s. Kids ages 4-12 spent $2. 2 billion in 1968 and $4. 2 billion in 1984. By 1994, the figure increased to 17.1 billion, and by 2002 their spending exceeded $40 billion. Kids' direct buying power is expected to exceed $51.8 billion by 2006.

On behalf of its 8,000 members, the VSCPA urges you to support SB 950 as a measure to help improve the financial literacy of Virginia's future leaders. This is a critical issue facing our young adults, and the future of state and national economies. The VSCPA urges you, Virginia's leaders, to be on the cutting edge to guiding citizens toward fiscal health.

Questions and concerns may be directed to VSCPA Government Affairs Director Erin Collins at ecollins@vscpa.com or (800) 733-8272. The VSCPA's legislative counsels are Ralph L. "Bill" Axselle Jr., (804) 783-6405, and Bernard McNamee, (804) 783-6493 of Williams Mullen.

Sincerely,

John L. Vincie III, CPA
Chair, VSCPA Board of Directors

LAST UPDATED 1/27/2005

This content has not yet been rated.

1 Poor 3 Fair 5 Excellent
 1  2  3  4  5

Comments