The AICPA’s recently launched 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy program provides a comprehensive approach to financial education. It sends the message that financial education should be a lifelong endeavor—from a child putting pennies in a piggy bank to adults reaching a secure retirement.

The national program includes a number of initiatives, including:

• A national commission to provide leadership and build liaisons within the financial literacy community.
• A grassroots mobilization team to capture best practices and work with state CPA societies to facilitate and promote CPA volunteerism. (MACPA President and CEO Peggy Dzierzawski serves on this team.)
• A public service announcement campaign targeting women. Expected to launch in 2005, the effort to provide women with financial literacy information will include a web site and toll-free telephone number.
• Weekly online chats on USA Today’s web site feature CPAs with the PFS credential.
• 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy web site will feature information consumers can use to support sound financial decision-making at every stage of their lives.
• A certificate to honor CPAs who perform a specified number of volunteer hours in financial literacy.
• A free online CPE course will cover crucial issues of financial literacy to help CPAs prepare to be a volunteer.

The MACPA has always been a proponent of financial literacy and volunteerism through a number of activities underway, such as the Accounting Blitz with Junior Achievement, money management articles, the Financial Literacy Task Force, which is under development, and other public outreach efforts.

The first initiative for the Financial Literacy Task Force, just announced at the September Members Advisory Forum, involves a partnership with Hospice of Michigan to provide families with a financial checklist when faced with the impending death of a loved one. (See related story.)

What Can You Do?
Members are encouraged to get involved. A good place to start is to visit the 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy web site and explore the resources available.

Plus, members may download three popular financial literacy brochures from the MACPA web site. The brochures – Financial Planning Tips for a Lifetime, Ten Ways to Protect Your Business and Setting Your Financial Records Straight  – are excellent resources to use with clients.

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