Governor Nathan Deal has proclaimed April as Financial Literacy Month in Georgia. Accordingly, Attorney General Chris Carr is encouraging Georgians to take advantage of the educational resources available through the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit.

“Understanding how to manage your money, make smart purchases and protect your data is key to having greater financial ease and success,” said Attorney General Carr. “Georgians can call or visit our Consumer Protection Unit’s website to learn more about the resources we have in place to help them with their important financial decisions.”

A 2016 Federal Reserve study reported that 44 percent of adults either could not cover an emergency expense costing $400 without borrowing money or selling assets, and the national personal saving rate of disposable personal income was 3.2 percent in January 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition, student loan debt continues to rise. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, 68 percent of graduating seniors from public and private nonprofit colleges in 2015 had student loan debt, with an average of more than $30,100 per borrower. For Georgia borrowers, the default rate for student loans is 12 percent. 

The Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit developed ConsumerEd.com to help Georgians become savvy consumers.  It contains tools and information on saving and investing, creating a budget, understanding your credit score, managing debt, purchasing a home, buying a vehicle and protecting yourself from identity theft. The site also features a blog entitled “Ask Consumer Ed,” which answers actual questions on a wide variety of consumer topics. And, for our men and women serving in the military and their families, the Consumer Protection Unit created a free consumer app called “Basic Training,” which contains financial information and tools for our military community. To download the app, consumers can go to consumer.georgia.gov/app.