FT seasonal appeal: why financial education has never been more crucial

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Patrick Jenkins is the FT’s deputy editor and chair of FT FLIC

The gap between those who have — millionaires, billionaires, prospective trillionaires — and those who don’t just keeps on widening. Federal Reserve analysis shows the richest 0.1 per cent of Americans now own 14 per cent of the country’s household wealth, up from 10 per cent 15 years ago.

Even in the more restrained UK, tax authority data this month showed there are now more than 5,000 Isa millionaires in the country — those whose investments through an Individual Savings Account tax-free wrapper are worth £1mn-plus. And then, of course, there is the epitome of excess: Elon Musk, already the richest man in the world, who was recently awarded an otherworldly $1tn pay deal by Tesla (equivalent to the median annual salary of 16mn Americans added together).

It is against that background that we today launch our seasonal appeal, in aid of FLIC, the financial education charity seeded by the Financial Times in 2021. The Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign, to give it its full title, aims to promote a foundational understanding of money among both children and adults.

A world in which those who understand money can accumulate vast riches, while those who don’t are left behind or spiral into unaffordable debt, can only damage the broader economy and threaten sociopolitical cohesion. Educating everyone to understand the foundations of finance — from compound interest to stock market investment and pension saving — has never been more important.

Over the next eight weeks, the FT will bring you stories about the communities that FLIC has already reached — from UK nurses in Northumbria and army recruits in Aldershot to catering trainees in Aurangabad, western India. John Burn-Murdoch will dig into the data of successful programmes. And Claer Barrett will curate a collection of top money management tips from a posse of financial celebrities and your favourite FT writers.

FLIC may be young (we turned four in September) but the charity has racked up a lot of wins. We were particularly delighted that the UK government announced this month that financial education would finally be taken seriously in schools, with a policy to make it compulsory across primary and secondary schools in England. This is something FLIC had lobbied hard for.

But campaigning has only been a part of our charity’s agenda. Its day-to-day work has accelerated fast: creating the financial education material to help both young people and adults overcome nervousness about the topic and get to grips with their money. Our 42 hours of classroom learning materials are complemented by dozens of engaging short-form videos that are embedded in lesson plans and distributed independently on social media channels such as TikTok and Instagram. The videos have racked up millions of views and FLIC materials are now in more than 900 UK secondary schools.

Usage is important. But proof of efficacy is crucial. And it is a core component of FLIC’s approach. To that end, we have been recruiting a network of “beacon” schools among those that use our content, and we will conduct rigorous data analysis of the results.

Harris Multi-Academy Trust, which has just signed up to the programme, is excited about the skills, confidence and social mobility that their students will garner. “For the 43,000 students we serve — many from the most socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds — financial literacy isn’t just helpful, it’s essential,” says Sir Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation.

Meanwhile FLIC’s large-scale adult programme, which in 2024 began with a powerful collaboration with the Royal Marines, has now been expanded to cover the other armed forces. A potentially vast partnership with the NHS is gaining momentum, too.

Funding this wealth of work is not cheap, and has only been possible thus far thanks to the support of FT readers. As well as pledging a one-off or multiyear gift, you can bid for lunch with one of our star journalists. To supercharge your donations this year, credit information group Experian is kindly match-funding the appeal. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

This article is part of the FT Financial Literacy & Inclusion Campaign’s seasonal appeal. The appeal is supported by lead partner Experian which is generously match-funding other donations.