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Financial Literacy Top
Priority for AssociationThe MACPA Board of Directors has prioritized the Association’s commitment
to financial literacy. Through task force involvement and volunteerism,
MACPA members are tackling education and support initiatives to help
Americans manage their money.
While there are already a variety of resources consumers can tap to
improve their financial situation, the recently launched
360
Degrees of Financial Literacy web site has all the tools consumers
need in one place, separated into easily identifiable categories. It focuses
on common life stages that trigger financial issues: childhood, college,
career, military and reserves, couples and marriage, parenthood, home
ownership, entrepreneurs, life crisis, sandwich generation and retirement.
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Creating a
place for interested community residents to visit is not enough
for us. Our role is to go to our
communities and find the groups that need support and can
benefit from our experience. Who better than CPAs to help
Americans understand their options and the opportunities to be
derived from informed decision making?
Judith Trepeck,
MACPA Financial
Literacy-Hospice
Task
Force chair |
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To supplement this comprehensive tool, the MACPA and its members have
been reaching out to help consumers secure their solid financial footing.
MACPA provides a comprehensive approach to financial education, focusing on
the information that people need at each life stage.
“Creating a place for interested community residents to visit is not
enough for us,” said CPA Judith Trepeck, chair of the MACPA Financial
Literacy Task Force. Our role, said Trepeck, is to go to our communities and
find the groups that need support and can benefit from our experience. “Who
better than CPAs to help Americans understand their options and the
opportunities to be derived from informed decision making?”
Currently, Michigan CPAs are educating K-8 students through a partnership
with Junior Achievement; reaching high school and college students through a
Speaker’s Bureau program; educating and assisting low-income families with
their taxes through an alliance with the Volunteer Accounting Service Team
(VASTMI);
and most recently assisting Hospice of Michigan (HOM) patients and their families,
including seniors, minorities and children with varying financial
situations, through the MACPA Financial Literacy Task Force - Hospice.
Additional member
involvement is needed to continue the success of these far-reaching
initiatives.
| Hospice Families to Benefit from Support and Education The MACPA Financial Literacy Task Force- Hospice has taken on
a massive charge that targets terminally-ill patients and their
loved ones through a ground-breaking partnership with Hospice of
Michigan (HOM), the largest provider of hospice care in the state.
HOM provides specialized health care services for dying patients and
support for their loved ones. Representing a diverse demographic of
populations, including seniors, minorities, children and families
with varying financial situations, HOM impacts more than 16,000
lives annually.
Because the financial impact of the loss of a loved one
can be devastating, the Task Force is stepping in to provide support
and education on financial matters.
CPAs serving on the Task Force have expertise in estate and
financial planning and are collaborating to develop flow charts and
checklists that HOM social workers and grief counselors will utilize
in counseling patients and their families. This resource, combined
with the tools on the
360
Degrees of Financial Literacy web site, will reach limitless
Americans. |
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Financial Literacy Links
MACPA Financial Literacy Initiatives
This MACPA webpage provides an overview and links for a variety of
MACPA efforts, including the MACPA Accounting Blitz, VASTMI and Hospice of
Michigan programs and CPA Ambassadors.
360 Degrees of Financial Literacy – CPA
Website
To make sure CPAs are prepared to be successful volunteers in their
communities, this website features a host of resources for CPAs
including PowerPoint presentations, financial planning information,
downloadable brochures, a marketing toolkit and more.
360 Degrees of Financial Literacy –
Consumer Website
AICPA consumer website allows visitors to immediately pinpoint the
financial information they need because it is organized by common
life stages that trigger financial issues: childhood, college,
career, military and reserves, couples and marriage, parenthood,
home ownership, entrepreneurs, life crisis, sandwich generation and
retirement.
Sign Up
Register on this
financial literacy volunteer database of CPA volunteers. |
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January/February 2005
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