While shoveling snow last weekend (it’s been snowy here in WY...and now miserably cold) I tuned in to a Morningstar podcast. Their guest, an academic from the University of Colorado Boulder, was discussing the virtues of financial education. But according to his research, it doesn’t work as often as we hope or expect.

Why is this? Because education tends to follow the old but true saying of “Use it or lose it.” If we don’t readily apply the financial knowledge we may gain, it’s often lost. Financial education is best deployed in a just-in-time type format, when it is most likely that the learner will be ready to apply their newfound wisdom.

For example, if your child is getting ready to apply for college, it’s time to teach about student loan fundamentals and how to pay off debt. If you’re looking at retirement in the next year or two, it’s time to learn about Social Security strategies and the pros and cons of claiming your benefit at various ages. In both cases, the learner will be more motivated to act.

I cringe as I think back to the many financial seminars and workshops I’ve presented where attendees have been generally interested in acquiring some financial knowledge, but haven’t been ready to act on that knowledge. I don’t think it’s time wasted, but financial education is certainly more likely to be followed when we’re ready to act.

Here’s a link to the podcast in case you’d like to heard the interview in full.