April is a month of beginnings, among them the start of the baseball season and the opportunity to achieve financial literacy -- or, as it's now known in some circles, financial capability. I like to think of it as stepping up to the plate and taking charge of your own finances. With public trust in institutions from Wall Street to Capitol Hill undermined by the financial crisis, one thing we've learned is that no one is a more reliable steward of your money than you are.
Surveys show that Americans are willing to take on this personal responsibility. For example, in a poll by Chase Card Services, 72% of respondents said that they trusted themselves most when it came to managing their finances -- but about the same number said that they needed better tools to do it. And a survey by AARP Financial found that more than half of adult Americans say it's hard to locate financial information and guidance that they can trust.
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