Amid Economic Uncertainty, New National Survey Finds Parents Concerned About Children's Future Financial Independence
The Hartford Offers Free Personal Finance Education Tool to Help
Parents Teach Financial 'Facts of Life'
HARTFORD, Conn., Apr 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Amid mounting doubt about the health of the U.S. economy, a majority of parents across the country are afraid their teens and young adults will be unable to support themselves without help from mom and dad. According to a new survey by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), 55 percent of parents with children aged 16-24 voiced concern over their children's ability to become financially independent without monetary assistance from them.
These parental concerns are reinforced by additional data released this week by the Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy (R) that show a majority of high school seniors graduate without understanding basic personal finance concepts. The widely-recognized biennial survey found that high school seniors correctly answered only 48.3 percent of the questions testing fundamental personal finance skills. This mean score is lower than that of the senior class of 2006, which correctly answered 52.4 percent of the questions. The results point to the need for more and better education on money management skills at school and at home.
"Parents are still their children's primary source of personal finance education," said Tom Marra, president and chief operating officer of The Hartford. "Nearly 72 percent of the parents we surveyed acknowledge this responsibility and 44 percent admit to needing more guidance on how to best teach their children the skills necessary to become financially responsible and successful adults."
To that end, The Hartford has created The Playbook for Life Parents' Companion Guide, with conversation starters, tips, and interactive exercises on a wealth of topics including wants vs. needs, setting goals, making a budget, managing credit and debt, and saving and investing. The Parents' Companion Guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the award-winning Playbook for Life: The Student's Guide to Understanding and Planning Your Financial Future.
Launched in 2005 as part of The Hartford's corporate partnership with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA(R)), the Playbook for Life program, comprising campus presentations, a guidebook and Web site, was originally designed to provide student-athletes with a solid footing in personal finance before setting out in the real world. It was quickly embraced by all college students - and their parents as a relevant and essential resource in the quest toward financial freedom.
The overwhelming interest from parents spurred creation of the Parents' Companion Guide, developed with the assistance of Dr. Susan Coleman, Ansley Chair of Finance at the University of Hartford, along with input from the NCAA and an informal "focus group" of college parents nationwide.
"There has been a tremendous need for this type of step-by-step guidebook that gives parents explicit suggestions and directions on how to teach important money management techniques," Coleman noted. "Most parents already routinely educate their kids about personal finance by example, but with a few helpful hints, they can impart so much more."
Tips for Parents
-- Talk about setting goals. Both long and short term goals establish a framework for financial decisions and are essential to learning to budget properly.
-- Help them earn. Saving is one of the most important lessons you can share. Frame it as a way of building wealth early on and encourage the habit by participating in a "parent match" -- contributing a certain amount to every dollar your child saves.
-- Credit is not free money. Explain the difference between good debt (student loan) and bad debt (excessive credit card use), and falling into credit traps. Pull a copy of a credit report and explain the importance of maintaining a good credit score.
-- Put them to work. Early work experiences can help establish a sense of responsibility and priorities for future life endeavors. Help arrange visits to as many workplaces as possible and discuss the expectations versus the realities of each.
-- Set limits. As a parent you want the best for your child. If you choose to help out financially, set clear parameters for the expenses you will pay.
Both the Playbook for Life and the Playbook for Life Parents' Companion Guide can be ordered or downloaded at no cost at www.playbook.thehartford.com.
During the past three years, the Playbook for Life program has visited more than three dozen college campuses, bringing its message of financial preparedness to student-athletes and college students. Personal finance fumbles and lessons learned are shared by members of "Team Hartford" - former student-athletes and professional athletes who have gone on to achieve success both in and out of sports.
"It's great to see The Hartford take the Playbook to the next level," said NCAA President Myles Brand of the Parents' Companion Guide. "As we continue to work together to educate student-athletes and all college students about preparing for their financial future, we can now offer tools to help parents to get more involved as well."
The Hartford survey was conducted among 1,048 parents with children between the ages of 16 and 24 nationwide by Impulse Research Corporation in March 2008 (with a margin of error of +/- 3 percent).
About The NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaasports.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.
About The Hartford
The Hartford, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, with 2007 revenues of $25.9 billion. The Hartford is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property and casualty insurance. International operations are located in Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Ireland. The Hartford's Internet address is www.thehartford.com.
HIG-C
Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.
SOURCE: The Hartford
The Hartford Pamela Rekow, 860-547-8990 pamela.rekow@thehartford.com or Ilene Lefland, 203-378-1152 x109 ilefland@cjpcom.com
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