Fixing Money 101: NC's Plan to End Financial Fragility

North Carolina is tackling financial fragility head-on. State Treasurer Brad Briner explains why the state ranks below most others on financial literacy and the practical steps his office is taking - from the award-winning Financial Fridays newsletter to student clubs, a statewide internship with a Fidelity partnership, and new K–12 curriculum efforts. Learn what success looks like, who can apply, and how these programs aim to give more North Carolinians the tools to survive emergencies and make smarter money choices.

Key Takeaways:

• North Carolina ranks below most states in financial literacy; the Treasury is prioritizing improvement through education initiatives.
• The state emphasizes addressing financial fragility-about 40% of residents lack enough savings for routine financial shocks.
• Programs include a monthly "Financial Fridays" newsletter, school-based clubs, and a statewide high-school financial-literacy internship (virtual, includes a $500 scholarship).
• Success will be measured by improved financial-literacy metrics long-term and short-term engagement metrics (newsletter subscriptions and syndication reach).

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Joining me now is the State Treasurer of North Carolina, the Honorable Brad Briner. Treasurer, it's great to see you.

Thanks for joining us on the program this morning. I appreciate the time, it's nice to see you as well. And I'm so pleased, tickled pink really, to talk to you about financial literacy.

We're gonna get into the details, some of the initiatives going on here in the state of North Carolina. But let me start off with a baseline question. In comparison to our other 49 states, how are North Carolinians doing in terms of their financial literacy?

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

Well, as I said, thanks for having me today. It's a pleasure to be with you. It's a little depressing to start off with that question because the answer is not great.

And it's one of the things that I noticed when I took office that North Carolina is actually below most other states in its financial literacy metrics, both knowledge of financial literacy topics as well as things like savings for rainy days and other things. And so one of the reasons that we've been so focused on financial literacy endeavors, including our newsletter and including our upcoming internship program, which I'm sure we'll talk about, is precisely that. We've gotta do better as a state and we can be part of that discussion, and so we wanna be.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, absolutely. And look, we can always do better. I come from the world of life is a learned experience.

Part of that is learning about money. It's an evolution, but there are steps that we're gonna talk about that the state's taking and other states are taking, quite frankly, as well. When you talk about those financial literacy results, are there specific areas?

You mentioned savings, but I'm thinking about credit cards, bank accounts, debt management, where you think North Carolinians need to improve upon.

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

So I think it's two in every five North Carolinians are considered financially fragile, right? They simply don't have the ability to meet any kind of financial accident that happens routinely in people's lives, and so that's the one I'm focused on because you can come off track so easily, whether it's a car accident or a health procedure that you need to have. These things are disruptive in many ways, personally, first of all, but second of all, financially, and we wanna make sure that people are more prepared.

So that's the one that I really focus on.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

And in terms of this initiative, it feels like in reading some of the releases and in terms of seeing things that have been put out by the Treasury Department, that this is something that's really important to you personally as well as professionally.

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

Yeah, so I grew up in a family that really struggled. It was not a great time in our country, so we weren't the only family that struggled in the late 70s, early 80s, but that is seared in my brain. Maybe magnified by the fact that both of my parents grew up in the Great Depression, so they were already predisposed to being concerned about the state of the economy, I suppose.

And you never forget those experiences. So how do you help, as a public official or otherwise, other people not go through some of the pains that you've been through? And for me, the answer was partly running for treasurer, but partly as treasurer, leaning into financial literacy.

How do we make people or help people make better decisions so that they're prepared if job loss comes? They're able to get through those as a family, take care of their children, and set them on the path that they've always wanted. Financial literacy is a big ingredient in that.

And so we started this the day I walked in the office. We started the newsletter in April, so it took us a couple months to get it up and running. And we're really pleased that we've gotten actually a international award for those efforts already.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Well, congratulations to you on that. Let's talk about where or how the state can assist students, North Carolinians. Let's talk about public schools.

How is the state helping the public school system here in North Carolina?

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

Yeah, so a friend of mine, Lieutenant Governor, or former Lieutenant Governor Dan Forrest, is really responsible for this. But the General Assembly, of course, was partners in putting in a financial literacy program into our high schools some years ago now. It's a requirement for seniors in the state to understand some things about financial literacy.

I know they're going through a curricular review right now, trying to enhance that program. One of the questions that is present is whether senior year is too late. A lot of people have already had their first job by then, I think most people, for that matter.

And they're already beginning to make decisions about money, certainly about the prospects for college, cars, things like that. So perhaps we should start earlier, prepare them for those decisions that, frankly, they're already making by the time they're a senior. And then broaden the curriculum.

Yeah, there's a lot of good nuts and bolts in there, but there's some more complicated topics and certainly some more modern topics that probably should be and can't be addressed.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, I remember learning, you know, when I got my first chore and getting paid, I got back then, I got paid, I'm a child of the 70s as well, a treasurer. So I got paid, it was like a buck for mowing the lawn. I think that the going rate now is probably 20 to 30 bucks.

But I remember learning some of those lessons then. You know, there are a lot of states in our union that are kind of going down similar paths. Is the state of North Carolina able to leverage some of the work done in other states?

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

You know, we've been blazing our own trail. There's a handful of other state treasurers who have been active in this regard, the state of Illinois, their treasurer does a good job as well. And so we've certainly learned from them, but to my mind, not enough are doing this.

There's a lot more that can be done. And so we haven't had a whole lot of templates to go from. I think it's absolutely appropriate for state treasurers everywhere to lean into this.

In fact, that's what we mostly do, is manage people's money. And so helping them understand it along the way is not only great for them, it's actually great for the state to have an informed citizenry and an informed electorate about financial issues as we go to the ballot box in November too.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Let's talk about the resources or tools that are a part of this initiative. You already mentioned the newsletter. I think it comes out every Friday, financial, I think it's called Financial Fridays, I think if I'm not mistaken.

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

Once a month. Once a month. It's a big effort for our team.

I think our team would probably all die if we did it every week.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Okay, my apologies. So you've got the newsletter. What other types of, my apologies to the staff, I'm not trying to have them do more work.

Don't call me. But in terms of the resources or tools, what else can North Carolinians and more importantly students look forward to?

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

Yeah, so we're evolving that, right? We've been at this for over a year now, once a month, and it's a pretty comprehensive letter with a number of different pieces to it that all come back to the same theme. Last month's theme was having hard conversations.

I won't give it away, but next month's theme will be a little lighter than that, but no less useful. And the idea is to take what's already being produced in the Finance Fridays newsletter and develop clubs around it, right? You have different subtopics within the topic and you can have discussions around those, educational exercises around those.

And so what we've done is set up an architecture for a club that takes the newsletter, expands on each of the articles in a different activity or a different way to create discussion and create a learning opportunity for members of the club. We're partnering with a number of the school systems and other groups who meet throughout the state to support those clubs. And we'll hope to roll that out in September.

Pairing with that, we're launching a financial literacy internship for high schoolers throughout North Carolina. We'll have an intern and this could be virtual. So from Murphy to Manteo, everybody should apply for it.

To help us build that curriculum and set up those clubs throughout the state. That internship will not only be here. As part of that, they'll work with Fidelity in the park for at least a day.

And then there'll be a scholarship at the end of it, $500 for their future education. So there's a lot of pieces to the internship that help build on the financial literacy clubs that all come back to the financial literacy newsletter. So we're trying to make it an integrated suite of tools for folks.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, lastly, let's talk about measuring success. We talked about at the onset, maybe in your mind, North Carolina wasn't doing as well as it needed to be. How do you benchmark success?

Is it people saving more money? Is it tax revenue because people are saving more money? How do you, I'm kidding about that, but how do you benchmark the success of the program?

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

Yeah, I think it's easier in the long run, harder in the short term. So in the long run, we should see those financial literacy metrics that we referenced at the beginning of the discussion trend up and above median states throughout this country. And so that's the long-term goal.

Get our electorate and our people and our citizens much more financially literate than the average American. That would be a good place to be. But in the short term, how do you get there and how do you measure progress?

I think understanding our subscription numbers of the financial literacy newsletter, the column that I write each month is now syndicated in papers. And so seeing how many we can get to pick that up, it's really a breadth of eyeballs, so to speak, that we're going after in the short run.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Well, we wish you, this is near and dear to my heart personally, but also our network's heart. We wish you and the state of North Carolina and the Department of Treasury all the best. Thank you so much for joining us, Treasurer.

And look, we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon, sir.

The Honorable Brad Briner, North Carolina State Treasurer

It'd be my pleasure. Thank you.

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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 6:30 AM.