In honor of April being Financial Literacy Month, North Dakota has launched a new digital resource to help residents improve their financial literacy.
The resource, SmartWithMyMoney.nd.gov, is free and allows residents to create an account, take a research-based financial personality assessment, and learn how their personality affects their money decisions. The governor’s office said that information, when paired with residents’ levels of financial knowledge on key topics, identifies personalized learning resources on the site to improve financial literacy.
As an incentive, completing challenges on the site enters people in a pool for a chance to win cash prizes. The governor’s office said that the goal of the new effort is to make North Dakota the most financially literate state by 2027.
“When residents are financially healthy, there are far-reaching positive impacts on their personal well-being and the state’s economy,” Gov. Doug Burgum said. “Reducing financial stress improves mental health. Making good financial decisions decreases the number of people with excessive credit card debt. More people are able to purchase homes, start or expand a business, and have increased expendable income. We’re grateful for the agencies that have committed to making North Dakota the most financially literate state and improving the quality of life for our citizens.”
The impetus for the new resource includes results of a survey from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The organization conducts a study of financial literacy every three years, and he last set of data released in 2022 found that only 37 percent of adults surveyed in North Dakota in 2021 felt confident with their knowledge of finances.
To achieve its goal of being the most financially literate state by 2027, North Dakota has to meet a handful of benchmarks set by FINRA:
- 66 percents of residents need to receive the higher overall financial knowledge score compared to 37 percent in the last set of released data.
- 66 percent of residents need to have emergency funds that last three months compared to 52 percent in 2021.
- The percentage of residents who experience financial anxiety will need to decrease from 56 percent to 33 percent.
- 66 percent of residents must have a retirement plan through their employer compared to 57 percent today.
- Residents who find it difficult to cover expenses and pay all their bills in a typical month will need to decrease to 33 percent from 45 percent.
