Personal Finance: Past, Present and Future

In recent years, the need for financial education has gained the attention of a wide range of entities including banking companies, government agencies, grass-roots consumer and community interest groups, universities, schools, and other organizations. Numerous factors have led to a complex, specialized financial services marketplace that requires consumers to be actively engaged if they are to manage their finances effectively. The prevailing concern is that consumers lack a working knowledge of financial concepts and do not have the tools they need to make decisions most advantageous to their economic wellbeing. However, a complex and specialized financial services marketplace requires consumers to be informed and actively engaged if they are to manage their finances effectively. Under these circumstances, there is a renewed attention to personal finance education. This subject matter is currently gaining attention from various quarters of society, such as academia, government, corporations and nonprofit organizations; however, many are not aware of the rich history and sources of literature in the field. This paper briefly reviews the history of personal finance and then looks at the current status of the personal financial discipline and education before identifying challenges and opportunities for the future.