How CPAs can help close the US financial literacy gap

As CPAs, you see the real-world consequences of financial decisions every day. You sit at the intersection of tax, planning, cash flow, and long-term wealth. You’ve watched disciplined decisions compound into stability and opportunity. You’ve also seen preventable mistakes derail otherwise promising futures. Many of us have had the same thought after a difficult client conversation: If only someone had taught this earlier.

Financial literacy is one of the few issues that cuts across politics, demographics, and professional silos. It is a shared economic foundation. And, increasingly, financial professionals are being called to lead.

“CPAs occupy a rare position of trust, technical authority, and long-term visibility into their clients’ financial lives,” said Melissa Linn, a CPA/PFS specializing in wealth management. “As the profession continues to expand beyond compliance into advisory services, that position creates an opportunity and arguably a responsibility to address one of the most persistent challenges in the U.S. economy: financial literacy.”

Why financial literacy matters now

The financial environment facing Americans has grown dramatically more complex. Defined benefit pensions have largely disappeared. Investment responsibility has shifted to individuals. Financial products multiply faster than most consumers can understand them. Technology accelerates decisions that used to require deliberation. Social media amplifies comparison, consumption, and misinformation.

The result is measurable strain.

According to the FINRA Foundation’s 2024 National Financial Capability Study, only 27% of Americans can correctly answer basic questions about compound interest, inflation, and diversification. Less than half maintain an emergency fund. A majority have never calculated retirement needs. Financial stress remains a leading contributor to family instability and divorce.

From a CPA perspective, this is not abstract social commentary. It shows up in client meetings as poor credit decisions, underfunded retirements, reactive tax choices, and short-term thinking that undermines long-term planning.

Julia Bush, CPA, saw the stark differences emerge when she was studying for her M.S. in taxation. In a recent interview, she framed the broader stakes clearly: “Financial literacy education is a great benefit not only to the individual but to communities and even our entire country. … Financially literate people strengthen communities by starting businesses, investing, and building wealth, and all of those things lead to a stronger and healthier economy.”

The rapid expansion of high school requirements

Momentum is being built to address this need. In 2021, Kansas became the 16th state to require a stand-alone semester of high school financial literacy. By the end of 2025, 30 states had passed similar legislation. Only 10 have fully implemented requirements so far, with the remainder phasing in over the next several years.

This is progress, but it is not victory.

Decades of academic research show that financial education produces durable outcomes only when delivered effectively. Knowledge alone is insufficient. True literacy requires confidence, application, and behavioral reinforcement.

Financial literacy is best understood as the ability to make intentional decisions aligned with long-term goals. CPAs see the consequences when that alignment is missing. Clients rarely struggle because information is unavailable. They struggle because translating knowledge into consistent behavior is difficult.

“The gap between the knowing and the doing in personal finance is one of the most consistent findings in behavioral economics,” Bush said. “As professionals, we have the ability to not only offer our knowledge, but we can also serve as an accountability partner, and that can help reinforce good habits.”

Educator preparedness: The hidden constraint

The largest obstacle to implementation is not curriculum. It is educator capacity.

Few teachers receive formal training in personal finance. Estimates suggest the United States will need more than 22,000 trained high school financial education teachers by 2031. In some cases, schools assign courses to instructors with minimal background simply because schedules require it.

For CPAs, this presents a natural partnership opportunity. Educators do not need replacement. They need reinforcement. Technical confidence, practical examples, and real-world context dramatically increase classroom effectiveness.

Curriculum is not the bottleneck

High-quality financial literacy curriculum is widely available at no cost. Organizations such as Next Gen Personal Finance, Khan Academy, Intuit for Education, FDIC Money Smart, and the Council for Economic Education provide standards-aligned materials, simulations, and professional development.

The challenge is not supply. It is integration. Teachers often lack awareness, time, or confidence to deploy these tools effectively.

This is where CPAs can serve as accelerators. Local professionals can introduce educators to vetted resources, demonstrate practical applications, and provide real-world reinforcement of classroom concepts. Even limited engagement produces a disproportionately positive impact.

“By embracing an expanded advisory mindset, CPAs can influence financial outcomes far beyond tax season,” Linn said. “Through consistent education, proactive conversations, and long-term planning, the profession has the capacity to turn financial literacy from a stagnant statistic into a lasting legacy.”

How CPAs can lead

The path forward is practical, not theoretical.

Be informed. Understand your state’s financial education requirements and implementation timeline. Identify active nonprofit partners and educational coalitions.

Be advocates. Engage with school boards, legislators, and professional associations. Elevate financial literacy to the status of a core life skill, equivalent to reading and mathematics.

Be resources. Volunteer with Junior Achievement, the Council for Economic Education, or local programs. Offer to speak in classrooms. Provide teacher support. Encourage young professionals within your firm to participate.

Be investors. If aligned with firm mission, consider funding teacher training, curriculum adoption, or nonprofit initiatives. The return on investment is generational.

“The best first step … is to really join the educational landscape,” Bush said. “Whether that’s partnering with an organization, creating a workshop, or working with your community, Americans young and old need more access to financial literacy education.”

A collective professional vision

The accounting profession has always been a stabilizing force in economic life. Today, that stabilizing role is expanding. Financial literacy is not peripheral to advisory work. It is upstream from it. Every informed student becomes a more resilient adult, a stronger client, and a more capable decision-maker.

The opportunity is not simply to improve statistics. It is to shape the financial architecture of the next generation.

CPAs are strategically positioned to do this work with credibility, authority, and trust. The infrastructure is forming. The need is undeniable. The only remaining question is the level of professional engagement.

The future of financial literacy can be built by financial professionals who share a common hope that individuals and families can benefit from financial education. The challenge is vast, the opportunity is clear, and we can achieve that future together.

Martin Seay, Ph.D., CFP® is the director of the Institute for Financial Education and Prosperity at Kansas State University and the chair-elect of the CFP Board of Directors.