The conversation around financial literacy has become more pressing than ever. Some studies show that poor financial literacy isn’t just a knowledge gap; it’s a costly problem. According to the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC), financial illiteracy cost Americans over $243 billion in 2024,1 with the average adult estimating personal financial losses of $1,015.42 annually1 due to a lack of financial knowledge.
Are you working with a financial advisor who provides education along with advice to help you avoid potentially costly mistakes and understand what your money is doing and why? At Matson Money, we take this responsibility seriously, offering ongoing financial education programs to both advisors and investors.
Financial Illiteracy is a Potentially Costly Problem
The NFEC survey1 highlights the potential dangers often associated with financial illiteracy, including:
- High interest rates on credit cards and loans.
- Overdraft fees and other administrative banking costs.
- Missed opportunities for retirement savings and investments.
When generalized to the U.S. population of approximately 240 million adults,1 these financial mistakes added up to a staggering $243 billion in 2024.1 If you consider losing $1,000 each year for the next 20 years – that could be the difference between having emergency reserves, saving for a home, planning for retirement, or achieving your American Dream for you and your family.
The need for financial literacy is clear, and the stakes are becoming too high to ignore. Yet, financial education is often inaccessible or undervalued—this can leave individuals to navigate complex financial systems on their own or through technology like robo-advisors.
How Matson Money is Leading the Charge
At Matson Money, we believe that financial education is the foundation for financial freedom, and we’re committed to empowering people through education.
Our award-winning American Dream Experience* has created an impact for over 5,000 families since its inception in 2017. The ADX can create opportunities for individuals and families to discover what investing is, how it works, and how it can fulfill on their purpose for life. Participants learn about what empirically tested academic investing principles based on Nobel prize-winning research are and how to eliminate speculating and gambling with their financial future. Over two days, participants can gain insights into:
- Evidence-based investment strategies aligned with long-term wealth creation.
- How human biases and blind spots have the potential to destroy dreams and how to create safeguards against behavioral pitfalls to help protect your hard-earned money.
- How to avoid becoming a static of short-term market trends and fluctuations and discover how to stay prudent and disciplined over a lifetime.
As part of our mission to save the investor and save the world by creating the ideals of the American Dream as a global phenomenon, participants can have the opportunity to attend the American Dream Experience* for free3—a $500 value per person. This is an opportunity to engage in potentially life-changing education without any barriers. Connect with an advisor.
Why Advisors Should Embrace Financial Education
Advisors have an incredible opportunity to make financial education a cornerstone of their value proposition. Not only can it equip clients to make better financial decisions, but it also can help strengthen client relationships. A more educated client can be a more engaged and loyal client, who may be more likely to value the expertise their advisor provides.
This can align perfectly with Matson Money’s approach: we’re here to support you, as advisors, in delivering the education your clients need to thrive. By becoming a co-advisor working with us, you can make a tangible impact on your client’s financial future while differentiating your practice in an increasingly competitive landscape. Become a co-advisor.
The Bottom Line: Financial Education is a Win-Win
The need for financial literacy is more important than ever. With inflation, consumer prices are 22.5% more expensive than what they were in February 20202. For example, Americans now need $1,225 to buy the same goods and services that cost $1,000 before the coronavirus-induced recession occurred.2 Poor financial decisions can cost people upwards of a thousand dollars annually: just look at the current credit card debt. (it’s over 1 trillion dollars1) With prudent education, you can get back on track working towards your American Dream and financial freedom.
Take action today. We welcome both advisors and investors to attend the American Dream Experience—for free3—and see the potentially transformative impact of financial education. The American Dream Experience is held 6 times a year and is available both in-person in Scottsdale, Arizona, and online via Zoom. For more information visit our website.
- The High Cost of Financial Illiteracy. Retrieved January 13, 2025. By Todd Shriber published January 13, 2025. https://www.advisorpedia.com/research/the-high-cost-of-financial-illiteracy/
- Inflation slightly accelerated last month – here are the prices rising most. Retrieved January 13, 2025. By Sarah Foster, published December 11, 2024. https://www.bankrate.com/banking/federal-reserve/latest-inflation-statistics/
- Investors must be accompanied to the American Dream Experience by a co-advisor who works with Matson Money. Financial advisors not yet working with Matson Money are welcome, please contact us and one of our coaches will reach out to discuss opportunities.
Disclosures
This content is based on the views, opinions, beliefs, or viewpoints of Matson Money, Inc. This content is not to be considered investment advice and is not to be relied upon as the basis for entering into any transaction or advisory relationship or making any investment decision.
All of Matson Money’s advisory services are marketed almost exclusively by either Solicitors or Co-Advisors. Both Co-Advisors and Solicitors are independent contractors, not employees or agents of Matson.
Other financial organizations may analyze investments and take a different approach to investing than that of Matson Money. All investing involves risks and costs. No investment strategy (including asset allocation and diversification strategies) can ensure peace of mind, guarantee profit, or protect against loss.
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS
* American Dream Experience awards disclosures.
Receipt of award does not acknowledge any particular skill or expertise on behalf of recipient and should not be used in determining whether to enter into any agreement with Matson Money, Inc. Please consider the disclosure of criteria for each award shown.
2023 Hermes Creative Awards Criteria Disclosure:
“ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to all individuals, companies, and organizations involved in producing any kind of marketing and communication materials for external or internal audiences. To be eligible, an entry must have been produced after January 1, 2020 (a 2-year window).
ENTRY FEES: The entry fee is $120 for each submission or $195 for each campaign or plan entry. If a piece is entered in more than one category, please enclose an additional entry fee for each time it is entered. AMCP does not charge for entries produced pro bono for outside nonprofits. Matson Money paid a total of $780.
CATEGORIES: Categories are divided into Print Media, Public Relations/Communications and Electronic/Social/Interactive Media.
JUDGING: Now in its fourth decade, AMCP has earned a reputation for accuracy, fairness, and credibility. A look at the list of winners is a who’s who of the creative industry. It takes about eight weeks of judging, eight hours a day, to review all the work that is submitted in each competition. Judges are senior-level, experienced professionals. They are freelancers or own their own businesses. They are selected based on experience and availability.
Entries are judged at random and not directly compared to other entries in their category. Work is judged on creativity and the judge’s perception of what you had to work with. A 2-color and a 4-color brochure in the same category are not compared to each other. A small company is not compared to a Fortune 500 entrant in the same category. There can be multiple winners or no winners in any given category. Utilizing a consensus judging system, the judges verbalize their criticisms, compliments, etc., and then agree on a score. Entries receiving scores between 90-100 points are Platinum Winners. Entries with 80-89 points are Gold Winners. Entries scoring from 70-79 receive Honorable Mention recognition.”
Retrieved 4/14/23 from: https://hermesawards.com/
2023 VIDDY Awards Criteria
To ensure fairness and consistency, entries are evaluated by our judges in Washington D.C. and reviewed in Dallas, TX. It takes two months of full-time work to judge all the entries. Each entry is judged against itself and not directly against other entries. There could be no winners in a category or multiple winners. There are no lengthy essays to persuade the judges; so, all work will be evaluated solely on its own quality, creativity, and resourcefulness. Judges base their decisions on learned perceptions of creative excellence rather than an entrant’s imaginative explanation of an entry’s value.
Entries are judged at random and are not grouped by categories. Each entry is viewed and discussed individually. The judges are experienced professionals who have had projects similar to any entries submitted. The judges are cognizant of what an entrant has to work with and make their evaluations accordingly.
Entries receiving scores between 90-100 points are Platinum winners. Entries with 80-89 points are Gold Winners. Entries scoring from 70-79 receive an Honorable Mention. In some cases, projects receive a None if they do not meet our judge’s expectations. All entries will have an award level listed in their MyAccount after results have been posted.
Work that has been created or produced within the past 2 years is eligible for entry.
Matson Money paid a total of $480 to be considered for four VIDDY Awards.
2023 Marcom Disclosures:
Matson Money paid a total of $640 to be considered for the four MarCom awards. The fee is $125 per entry or $195 per campaign or plan.
Criteria:
Entries receiving scores of 90-100 are Platinum Winners. Scores of 80-89 are Gold Winners and 70-79 are Honorable Mention Winners. There may be no winners or multiple winners in a category.
AMCP is the industry’s preeminent third-party evaluator of creative work. The organization has judged over 300,000 entries since its formation in 1994.
The competition is open to all individuals, companies, and organizations involved in producing any marketing and communication materials for external or internal audiences.
To be eligible, an entry must have been produced after January 1, 2022.
Over the past two decades, the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals’ judges has earned a reputation for accuracy, fairness, and credibility. A look at the list of MarCom winners is a who’s who of the industry. It is also the competition where professional organizations that run their own competitions enter their work.
To ensure timeliness, fairness, and consistency, most of the judging is done in the AMCP judging room in Dallas, Texas, and Washington, D.C. Judges are senior-level, experienced professionals residing in the Dallas-Fort Worth and D.C. areas. They are freelancers or own their own businesses. They are selected based on experience and availability. It takes two months of full-time work to judge the thousands of entries. Judges can change during the process, but at least one of the two judging coordinators is there at every session.
Entries are judged at random and not compared directly to other entries in their categories. There is no preset number of winners in a category. There are no lengthy essays to persuade the judges; so all work is evaluated solely on its own quality, creativity, and resourcefulness. Judges base their decisions on learned perceptions of creative excellence rather than an entrant’s imaginative explanation of an entry’s value.
Since there is a tremendous variance of resources from entrant-to-entrant, and piece-to-piece, perceived budget is taken into consideration in the judging. Based on their work experiences, judges expect each entry. A student-produced ad is not held to the same expectation as a piece produced by a Madison Avenue agency for a Fortune 500 company.
Retrieved from: https://marcomawards.com/#entry-information
2023 Titan Eligibility
Matson Money paid $89 to be considered for the Educational Event category.
The awards program is open to all entrepreneurs, SMEs, large organizations, and related individuals, involved in the business industry worldwide. Any person, group, or organization may turn in their submissions online. To be eligible, an entry must have been produced after January 1, 2021 (almost a 2-year window). Entries may originate from any country.
Requirements:
Entry Brief: It is recommended that you keep your synopsis to approximately 350 words. The brief should strengthen your entry, as well as providing the jury a better understanding of your project. A written translation or adaptation must accompany non-English entries.
Image Submission: The submissions should be saved in a flattened JPEG or JPG format. (keep them under 4MB, 1,200px wide is preferable, 300dpi, RGB).
Video/Audio Submission: Entries with audio/video must be submitted with a direct URL that will take judges directly to the work: Upload video/audio to Vimeo/YouTube/Youku. Paste the URL link into the URL field.
There are THREE (3) levels of achievement in the competition:
- Category Winners of the Year
- Platinum (85-100 points)
- Gold (60-84 points)
To ensure high standards of quality, a category may have multiple winners or no winners. Each submission is critiqued rated by consensus, with the panel of judges determining a rating on a scale of 100 points. Winners with a score between 85 and 100 points are Platinum Winners. Entries with a score between 60 and 84 points are Gold Winners.
Entries receiving an average score under 60 do not receive an award.
The highest score amongst the Platinum winners* for each main category will be selected as Category Winners of the Year.
Judges are selected based on experience, credibility, and availability. The Business Awards jury panel consist of senior-level executives, business professionals and acclaimed entrepreneurs, where their business experiences and acumen imbue them with impartiality and undivided attention.
Submissions are judged at random without comparison in the same categories. Our judges will score on a scale of 1-100 based on:
- Originality
- Business acumen
- Business expertise
- Impressions
- Delivery of submission
- Company culture (if applicable)
- Retrieved from: https://thetitanawards.com/business-awards.php.
