Houston CPA Named to National Financial Literacy Commission; Commission Part of Nationwide Effort to Help Americans Improve Their Money-Handling Skills 5/27/2004
From: Sarah Seals of the Texas Society of CPAs, 972-687-8688 or 800-428-0272 ext. 688, or sseals@tscpa.net DALLAS, May 27 -- Responding to the critical need for Americans at all stages of life to better understand money matters, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) named Houston CPA and personal financial specialist William Goldberg to the organization's newly formed National CPA Financial Literacy Commission. The commission will seek opportunities for CPAs to educate Americans about their money and will build new partnerships that address the critical financial literacy needs in the United States by capitalizing on the knowledge and contributions of CPAs. Recent statistics highlight the magnitude of the problem, which has been referred to by national and state government officials as "America's financial illiteracy epidemic." -- The United States has the lowest national savings rate in the industrialized world. -- In 2003, 1.6 million Americans filed for bankruptcy. -- The American family spends $1.22 for every dollar it earns. -- College students carry an average of three credit cards, each with a balance of $2,748. -- A Charles Schwab study showed that only 32 percent of 45-65 year-olds with incomes of $75,000 or more felt they would be able to afford retirement. As a member of the commission, Goldberg will serve alongside six other CPAs from across the United States. Regional director for Bernstein Investment Research and Management, Goldberg has been awarded AICPA's Distinguished Service Award in Financial Planning and previously chaired AICPA's Personal Financial Planning Executive Committee. He is a member of the Texas Society of CPAs. ABOUT TSCPA TSCPA ( http://www.tscpa.org ) is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional organization representing Texas CPAs. The society has 20 local chapters statewide and has 27,000 members, one of the largest in-state memberships of any state CPA society in the United States. TSCPA is committed to serving the public interest with programs that advance the highest standards of ethics and practice within the CPA profession. ABOUT AICPA The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ( http://www.aicpa.org ) is the national, professional organization of CPAs, with more than 340,000 members in business and industry, public practice, government and education. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. private auditing standards. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, which recently converted to a computerized format. |