I saw at a young age that one bad break can turn a family's financial life upside down. And it has affected everything in my life since then.

The bankers might not have said it in so many words, but gradually their strategy emerged: Target families who were already in a little trouble, lend them more money, get them entangled in high fees and astronomical interest rates, and then block the doors to the bankruptcy exit if they really got in over their heads.

Сount dollars, not pennies. Look at the big-ticket items, in your budget.

I love the work I do.

It's pretty much how we get anything added to the curriculum. When parents said children needed to be computer literate, the schools started responding. The same thing is true of basic financial literacy.

I oppose the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. It's an ill-conceived project that would lock us into further dependence on some of the dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet.

Credit cards are like snakes: Handle 'em long enough, and one will bite you.