Contributed by Amy Andrews 

Did you know that 44% of Americans don’t have enough cash to cover a $400 emergency or that 33% have zero saved for retirement? These alarming statistics from Forbes Magazine point to a huge lack in financial planning education. 

Enter WYTV7’s Financially Lit program which aims to educate and empower middle and high school students in our community about how to manage and budget their finances as they prepare for college and living independent adult lives.

This year’s Spotlight Series is presented by Amy and Brian France Foundation and in January we are focusing in on our local nonprofit partners who provide programming to improve financial literacy and who are helping to build a stronger economy one neighbor at a time. 

Personal finances influence many of our daily decisions and nearly every aspect of our lives, making financial literacy essential for understanding how to make responsible decisions that shape a positive future. 

When we talk about financial literacy, what we are referring to is the understanding of financial, credit and debt management and the knowledge that is necessary to make financially responsible decisions that are integral to our everyday lives (Investopedia).

What will be my legacy when I'm gone?

This is not a question we tend to ask ourselves in our thirties. Jen Pagani didn't have a choice. Shortly after having her second son, Jen was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer—an aggressive form of the disease that she fought with the same tenacity she'd brought to two Ironman Triathlons. Her fighting spirit gave her more than six years to spend with her two boys and her soulmate and husband Joe. It also gave us the Go Jen Go Foundation. 

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, all October long we are highlighting our nonprofit partners who work to provide resources to those affected by breast cancer as part of our monthly Spotlight Series. 

Did you know? 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. This makes breast cancer the second most common cancer among women, coming in close behind skin cancer. To put it in perspective, on average, every two minutes another woman is diagnosed, every two minutes someone’s world is completely rocked. 

Pregnant in college could mean a dream deferred. But instead of exploding dreams, the visionaries at Belmont Abbey College and MiraVia, have created a stopgap for pregnant students to not only help them finish college but to counsel them towards achieving short-term goals building to long-term goal-setting like financial independence and career plans. It’s not as technical as much as it is community; a community, in fact, where young mothers can still have dance parties in their pjs after nursing their infants and posting assignments after pulling overnighters...writing papers. MiraVia is about loving fully and well, being the Plan B for those reconsidering education after an unexpected pregnancy and opening their doors to shared resources with young moms.