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5/12/2020 Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner Remarks for the Financial Capability Challenge Award Ceremony As Prepared for Delivery U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Press Center Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner Remarks for the Financial Capability Challenge Award Ceremony As Prepared for Delivery 4/28/2010 TG-670 Before I begin, let me take a minute to say something about the latest developments on financial reform. The United State Senate continues to debate whether to start debate about reforming the financial system, and earlier today we saw that a minority of Senators continued to block this bill's progress. The stakes are so high for every American that I believe Republicans and Democrats will come together soon and join their House colleagues in passing the most important financial reforms since the Great Depression. Now, let me welcome Secretary of Education Duncan, and the students, parents and teachers here today who participated in the Financial Capability Challenge. You are some of the top scorers among more than 76,000 students nationwide who took up this year's Challenge, and we want to recognize your outstanding performance. But as we celebrate your achievement, it's important we also recognize that this year's results show we still have a long ways to go in improving Americans' financial capability. That's why we hope to see participation in the Challenge grow. And it's why we hope to make basic economics and finance an integral part of educating students. The reforms Congress is considering will help protect your families' financial security and the stability of our economy. They will place tough new standards on financial firms, especially the largest ones. They will subject the derivatives markets to strong regulation and oversight. They will limit the size of financial institutions and prevent banks from endangering depositors and taxpayers through risky, speculative activities. https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg670.aspx 1/2 5/12/2020 Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner Remarks for the Financial Capability Challenge Award Ceremony As Prepared for Delivery And they will strengthen consumer protections to prevent the kind of predation we saw during the crisis; ensure that consumers have clear disclosures about financial products and services, and give them the information they need to make financial decisions that are right for them. But even as we press for change, it is important to realize that no set of reforms no matter how comprehensive or vigorously enforced can guard against another crisis if people make the kinds of decisions we saw during this crisis when caution was often overrun by hope and people borrowed more than they could afford without understanding the risks. The best protection against such damaging decisions is knowledge--about the financial choices people face and about the consequences of their choices. And the best--really, the only--way to transmit this knowledge is through education. That's why reforms of the rules need to be complemented with efforts like the Challenge to improve the economic and financial education of all Americans, especially the young. We know that even before students are old enough to drive or vote, you will be offered credit cards. Yet the responses to this year's Challenge questions show that many students understand almost nothing about how credit cards work. We know that even as you land your first full-time job, you will need to make choices about how to save for your retirement. Yet the responses to the Challenge show that nearly half of students don't know the basics about saving, such as what it means to earn interest on the money you save. We know that even after the reforms we have proposed and Congress is considering are finally enacted, the financial world that you will inhabit will be more complex and choice-filled than the one in which we live today. So we must expand our efforts to help schools and families teach young people how to tackle the questions of savings, borrowing and investing that you will have to answer throughout your lives. As a first step today, we want to recognize you as top performers in this year's Challenge and as pioneers in what we hope will be growing movement to provide young Americans with the knowledge you need to make wise financial decisions for yourselves and your families in the years to come. Secretary Duncan. https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg670.aspx 2/2
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