个人理财：过去，现在和未来[文献翻译].doc

原文： Personal Finance: Past, Present and Future Introduction 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 forces of technology and market innovation, driven by increased competition, have resulted in a sophisticated industry in which consumers are offered a broad spectrum of services by a wide array of providers. Other important demographic and market trends contributing to concerns include increased diversity of the population, resulting in households that may face language, cultural, or other barriers to establishing a banking relationship; expanded access to credit for younger populations; and increased employee responsibility for directing their own investments in employer‐sponsored retirement and pension plans. 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. Financial decisions made by consumers affect an individual’s or family’s current financial wellbeing and ability to save for long‐term goals such as buying a home, seeking higher education, or financing retirement. In addition, the consumer decisions also play an important role in the overall economic health of the nation, as was experienced through the recent economic crisis. Most recent economic issues such as credit card debt, home foreclosures, reduced savings, declining values of investments, the collapse of the subprime lending market, and escalating numbers of personal bankruptcy have focused the nation’s attention on the importance of financial education. Technological advanc