FINANCIAL LITERACY: A PATHWAY OUT OF POVERTY

by Dale Morgan CEO of Foundation47 www.foundation47llc.com Guest Writer

We live in a world of excess and overindulgence. A world where people “buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t like”. The lack of financial literacy in our society has led to an increase in stress and anxiety. With ‘inflation”, gentrification, and the rising cost of “affordable housing” it is more important than ever to become financially responsible, or prepare yourself for a lifetime of despair. Look around you, tell me what you see, homelessness, people starving, and drug addiction, people struggling just to provide for themselves let alone a family. A life of perpetual “survival mode”.

In this capitalistic world we live in, I’m often asked why they don’t teach us about personal finance in K 12, and my reply it’s plain and simple they need us to be mindless consumers, that’s how all this works. If I had known what a credit score was and how it could and did impact my future buying power, I would not have signed up for a credit card with a 24% interest rate and not made a payment for 8 years, in order to receive a free T shirt and a slice of pizza.

If I had a simple introduction into how to make a budget and how it will help me control my money, rather than letting my money control me, I would have not been living from paycheck to paycheck and dealing with bouts of financial anxiety at the beginning of every month when most of my debt obligations were due.

Financial literacy for me, provided a pathway out of poverty. Financial literacy can help individuals reach their goals. By a better understanding of how to budget, save, and invest money, people can create plans that set expectations, and hold them accountable for their finances.

Mr. Dale Morgan is a native of Lexington, KY. He graduated from Henry Clay High School and earned his Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Eastern Kentucky University. Prior to his current positions as President and CEO of Foundation 47 and Investment Analyst for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), Dale was an accountant for both Purdue University and University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment. Dale is passionate about advocating for others and sharing knowledge. His Foundation 47, LLC helps equip young adults with the knowledge they need to become and stay “Fiscally Fit” Dale finds motivation to continuously improve from the Tupac quote, “. . . I’m not saying I will change the world, but I guarantee I will spark the brain that will.”