State Treasurer Brad Briner launches financial literacy newsletter

April is Financial Literacy Month, and state Treasurer Brad Briner is using the occasion to launch Financial Fridays — a monthly newsletter meant to help North Carolinians navigate investing, saving, and retirement, among other topics.

Briner said doing something like this has been on his mind ever since he took office earlier this year. Briner’s father lost his job when he was about four years old, and he said that had a profound impact on him.

“I’m the youngest of four boys,” he said. “All of us ended up in finance. All of us are deeply insecure about money. No surprise when you think about it.”

With all the different acronyms and phrases, understanding your own finances can be really complicated, no matter your background or education, Briner said.

“You can be smart, talented, successful, but you can really screw things up if you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said.

“I spend a lot of time talking to people who have no earthly idea what I’m talking about, and I try to simplify,” he said. “I try to make it easy for them, but we have to do a better job. And that’s the whole purpose here.”

The first issue, set to launch Friday, April 4, will focus on how to start thinking about personal finance. Each issue will feature a personal message from the treasurer and will cover several topics, including demystifying something that can often be confusing, such as credit cards.

While much of the newsletter will be geared toward adults, with tips on retirement and investing, there will be one section each month specifically for teenagers and young adults as well. As of now, Briner said he plans to cover topics like student loans and how to make the most of summer employment.

Briner also said he will be partnering with various organizations throughout Financial Literacy Month to help with personal finance education.

“It’s just so important to me, and I’m routinely amazed by how we as the financial services industry alienate people just with our insistence on making this complicated,” he said.

While the idea to do the newsletter was partly fueled by his passion, he also said it goes along with his major duties as state treasurer. The treasurer’s job is to oversee the state’s financial operations, including managing the state’s retirement system and the health plan for state employees.

“The state treasurer’s office touches every North Carolinian. The vast majority of them don’t know it, and that’s fine. We don’t need them to know it, but we do need them to understand what it is we’re trying to do and why we’re trying to do it, so this helps with that,” he said. “We’re just trying to be conservative stewards of your money… And this dovetails right into where we want to be — educating, transparent, open, and very clear about what it is we want to do for the state.”

You can find out more and subscribe here.