by Casper Reaves

Created on: August 13, 2011   Last Updated: August 14, 2011

The American economic crisis that started in 2007 had many contributing factors. For mortgages and credit cards, part of the responsibility falls on the consumers.  The lack of financial literacy contributed to consumers getting involved with financial products that were wrong for them. 

Financial literacy is a lifetime learning process that will require a lot of repetition.  Most financial topics have layers of detail that need to be approached steadily.  Here are a few suggestions to improve your financial literacy.

Listen and watch: Start watching financial television show and listening to financial radio shows. Jim Cramer and Suze Orman are two television personalities in personal finance. You may not like their on-screen personality, but try to pick out the financial knowledge. Many news radio stations will have daily or weekly money hour. Motley Fool has a few financial programs on public radio that provides excellent information. Also consider downloading their podcast. There website is excellent for basic knowledge on personal finance and investing.

Read: Start increasing your financial reading and study slowly. Do not immediately subscribe to six magazine, three newspapers, and four web newsletters. Do not immediately put a stack of financial books on your nightstand. Start slowly and avoid burn out. Buy one magazine at a time from a newsstand or supermarket and try the different ones:  Forbes, Fortune, Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Smart Money, The Economist.  Purchase one every one or two weeks. Also alternate in some of the financial newspapers: Wall Street Journal, Barrons, and Investors Business Daily. Initially, just scan through these items. With time, you will begin to understand more, become more interested in the articles, and see connections between topics.

Investors Business Daily is not only daily newspaper on finance and investing.  The founder and publisher of the newspaper, William O’Neil wrote a good book:  24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success: Learn the Most Important Investment Techniques. Investors Business Daily also includes a page on motivation and success. You may want to connect your financial literacy efforts to your efforts in self-improvement and personal success. Your long term goals and how they are broken down into monthly and weekly steps should include goals in financial literacy and financial improvement. One well known author in this

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