The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau released a report indicating that the United States spends 25 times more money each year on marketing financial products than on financial education. The study conducted by Boston Consulting Group, called “Navigating the Market: A comparison of spending on financial education and financial marketing,” shows how pale look has government funded financial education versus financial services industry marketing spending in the US.
On average annual financial education spending per American is just two dollars. In the same time every statistical citizen is bombarded with financial services advertising worth 54 dollars. Note, that advertising of financial products related to college loans, retirement and other investments is not even included in this comparison. On the other hand, 2 dollars spend for financial education is a combined effort by federal, state, and local governments, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, charitable foundations, and others.
“When consumers receive the vast majority of their financial information from companies that are trying to promote an image or sell products, consumers have very little unbiased information,”
– said Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB
