Financial Education

We all make mistakes. That’s part of what makes us human. When we can, we learn from our mistakes. That’s why we at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau want to understand more about the most common errors consumers make about money. We want to find better ways to help others avoid these mistakes in the future.

For example, many consumers make credit card and loan decisions without shopping for the best rates and terms. Others set goals – like saving more for retirement or for the down payment on a home – but don’t follow through. Many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, but never take the steps necessary to plan their spending, reduce their debt, or save for sudden expenses.

We would like to give you a chance to tell us about common money mistakes. Tell us about:

• Errors you’ve made;
• Mistakes you’ve seen others make;
• Habits and practices that make good choices more difficult; and
• What you wish you had known sooner or would do differently next time.

Please e-mail your comments to FinancialEducation@CFPB.gov.

(Note: Do not discuss personally identifiable information or private issues in the comments area below. If you have a complaint about a specific product or company, please enter it here.)

There are certain occasions in everyone’s life when one decision can have long-lasting effects. How will you pay for college? Which mortgage should you choose? Where will you turn when you need credit? When will you start saving for retirement? How you answer these questions and others like them can profoundly impact your financial future.

Unfortunately, too many graduates are entering the workforce saddled with student loan debt, limited employment opportunities, and important financial decisions for which they are often unprepared. There is simply too wide a gap between complex financial products and the level of education that many consumers have about them.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is dedicated to closing that gap by making financial products more transparent and helping to educate consumers so they can make better-informed choices when pursuing their own financial goals.

Today, Director Cordray outlined this vision during the White House Financial Capability and Empowerment Summit. The national gathering of more than 100 community leaders focused attention on improving the financial capability of all Americans. The summit also highlighted the work of several organizations making a difference for workers, youth, and families.

At the CFPB, the Office of Consumer Engagement and the Office of Financial Education are the twin engines that develop and implement initiatives to educate and empower consumers. Our job is to help you access and understand the information, tools, and rules that will help you make the best financial choices.

Through our Consumer Engagement work, we recently launched Ask CFPB, a tool to help you get answers to your basic financial questions. Ask CFPB features hundreds of answers to questions about credit cards, mortgages, and other financial products and services.

We’ve also been working to help you navigate the financial landscape as you navigate the student loan market. We launched the Student Debt Repayment Assistant and began testing a new tool to help students understand how much they’ll owe after graduation. We hope all of these efforts will help students and parents make smarter financial decisions.

Meanwhile, the Office of Financial Education is learning from – and strengthening – the work of financial education practitioners. We are building a comprehensive approach to financial education, a goal that includes developing a knowledge base and measuring the effectiveness of financial education programs. Going forward, we plan to:

• Share effective strategies,
• Increase federal coordination,
• Promote innovation, and
• Test new ideas in the area of financial education.

We look forward to engaging with you as we work together to help consumers live better financial lives.

For more information about these and other CFPB programs, I encourage you to take a look at our website, www.ConsumerFinance.gov. And if any members of the financial education community would like to contact us, please e-mail financialeducation@cfpb.gov.

April is Financial Literacy Month, and we are teaming up with other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to promote financial education.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray and the staff of the CFPB are taking a leading role in spreading the word about the benefits of knowing more about money.

Being informed is your best defense against the tricks and traps found in some financial products. Recently, we launched Ask CFPB, a search tool to help you find plain-language answers to your questions about credit cards, mortgages, credit scores, and more.

You can rate the questions and even suggest your own if you don’t find what you’re looking for.

Sometimes, information isn’t enough. That’s why we continue to take your complaints. You can now file complaints about mortgages, credit cards, deposit accounts, vehicle and other consumer loans, and student loans. When you submit your complaint, you will be given a password and a tracking number to follow its progress. Or, you can Tell Your Story. Share your experiences with personal financial products and services – good or bad – and help inform our ability to protect others.

We’ll also be on the road a lot this month, so mark your calendar for a few noteworthy events:

• Gail Hillebrand, the CFPB’s associate director of Consumer Education and Engagement, will speak during Financial Literacy Day on the Hill on April 17. She will also participate in the sixth annual Financial Literacy and Education Summit, co-hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and Visa Inc., on April 23.
• On April 19, Assistant Director Camille Busette, from the CFPB’s Office of Financial Education, will be the luncheon speaker during the Texas Panhandle Community Asset Building Forum, hosted by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and the City of Amarillo.
• And, on April 21, I will present an overview of how the CFPB is helping consumers during the New York Public Library’s Financial Empowerment Day.

We hope to hear more from you and other consumers at these events or on our website. You can also share your experiences and interact with us on Facebook and Twitter. We’ll be presenting financial facts and tips throughout Financial Literacy Month. They’ll introduce you to financial issues, answer your questions, and guide you to important resources.

It can be hard to understand the language of financial products and services. Just what exactly is a grace period? What about an ARM? A balloon payment? And while the Internet can serve up an answer, how can you be sure it’s the right one?

Ask CFPB, a new interactive online tool from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), can help.

Say you’re thinking about buying a home. You could type in a question to Ask CFPB’s search box, or you could browse the list of questions in the Mortgage category. Once you’ve done a search, you can also filter by topic, like “fees” or “closing,” or by populations, like servicemembers, students, and older Americans.

Ask CFPB contains three general categories of questions and answers:

1. Definitions: Financial products and terms are often described in industry jargon. Ask CFPB translates the jargon into clear definitions. You can get answers to questions like, “What is a credit report?” or “What is a reverse mortgage?”
2. Explanations: Financial products can include many complicated terms and features, and it can be difficult for you to understand how they work. Ask CFPB provides you with general information and explanations on terms and features of financial products.
3. Situations: Ask CFPB arms you with information and tips to help you navigate various situations. For example, you can use to the tool to ask, “What if my lender quoted me one rate at application but raised it at closing?”

Ask CFPB also lets you provide feedback. You can rate an answer “Helpful,” “Too long,” “Confusing,” or “Incorrect.” And if you don’t find the answer you’re looking for, you can submit a question for consideration.

Our Ask CFPB database currently contains more than 350 questions and answers, primarily focused on credit cards and mortgages. In the coming months, the CFPB will continue to build the database to answer questions about a range of financial products and services, including student loans, auto loans, checking and savings accounts, and prepaid cards.

So visit consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb, take a look, and let us know what you think!

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