Lessons like these should be communicated early and often, instilling a sense of financial responsibility and empowerment in today's youth. Towards this end, this Web site was designed with several purposes in mind. They include:

• teaching America's youth about the value of saving, investing and owning a home;
• doing this in a way that is fun, interactive and motivating;
• empowering young adults to take more control over their lives and their financial future;
• providing educators with ideas and resources that reinforce the concepts of saving, investing and home ownership; and,
• making these resources relevant with regard to National Standards; and
• ensuring that those resources remain dynamic.

Why is Ginnie Mae targeting middle-school students?

Ginnie Mae's mission is to support expanded affordable housing in America. The path to home ownership includes responsible financial planning and investment. By targeting middle-school students, we can educate our youth about saving, investing, and homeownership before they start earning their own incomes.

To illustrate the importance of teaching this information to this age group, consider the following example. In 1997, a coalition of government agencies, universities and non-profit groups released the results of a nationwide survey of high-school seniors' money-management skills. Overall, students averaged 57 percent on the 31-question multiple-choice examination, which was designed by a team of educators to test basic financial survival skills. Since there were just four multiple-choice answers to each question, random responses would have yielded a score of 25 percent.

Questions were divided into four categories: income, money management, savings and investment, and spending. By far the weakest area of knowledge was savings and investment, where students answered only 47.3 percent of questions correctly. For example, only 14.4% of students felt that stocks would have a higher rate of growth over 18 years than savings accounts, checking accounts or U. S. Government savings bonds. In addition, 51 percent said that a certificate of deposit at the bank is not protected against loss by the Federal Government. Finally, fewer than a third knew that interest earned on a bank savings account may be taxable if total income is high enough. *

It is never too early to start.

For more information about the 1997 Personal Financial Survey, visit the American Savings Education Council at http://www.asec.org/jumphm.htm.

* Source: American Savings Education Council.