TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — This financial literacy month, Tallahassee Community College's vice president of workforce innovation has been outspoken about helping women get ahead in the workforce as a step towards wealth.
"Financial literacy is not just about the short term and weather you have a bank account," Kim Moore explains. "It's also about the long term strategizing for your career and future and not just yours but really generations."
A global study conducted by Standard and Poor measures financial literacy according to how well educated people are in four categories. ABC27 spoke with Certified Financial Planner Bill Horak to learn what each means, starting with numeracy, which is "knowing how math works and then trying to apply it to whatever situation you may have," Horack said. Second, there is risk diversification, or not putting all or eggs in one basket. "Diversity in this case means maybe we own stocks, maybe we own bonds, maybe we own some real estate," he adds. The third metric is interest compounding, which Horak says happens when "your money is earning interest on your interest over time." Last but not least, he defines inflation as "the increase in price of goods and services over time."
Each of these factors impacts a person's ability to budget, save, and invest wisely. That same study found women worldwide to be less financially literate than men, which is a fact Moore says programs at TCC are designed to change.
"I would tell you that every program at TCC gives women a leg up, our community a leg up," Moore said. "I say that because we are invested heavily in labor market information, knowing what the trends are forecasting what future needs are." Part of the strategy she mentions involves helping women find high-earning, non-traditional careers in fields like manufacturing and IT.
"We have seen it certainly here at TCC, and also statewide and nationally, that when women and girls are made aware of the different areas of training and occupation, they excel." Then, once they have those profitable positions, they can then use smart saving, budgeting, and investing skills to turn their hard-earned riches into wealth.
"We want to level the playing field, if you will, and make sure that women have a great opportunity to be successful and contribute at the level that we know that we can," Moore said.
Moore spoke recently on two Women Wednesday panels focused on helping women become more financially savvy, including one on the TradeWherks program which connects women with skilled labor jobs.
