Financial Literacy

The Top 10 Women in Money

Muriel Siebert, CEO, Muriel Siebert & Co.

You likely know Siebert -- the "First Woman of Finance " -- as an advocate for women and business. She's the first woman to own a seat on the NYSE (1967), first woman to be Superintendent of Banking of the State of New York (1977), and the company she founded, Muriel Siebert & Co., is the only woman-owned NYSE brokerage firm with a national presence. She also created Women's Financial Network to help women make smart investment decisions. But there's something else you probably don't know about Siebert: She wants financial literacy to be her legacy. And she has been working tirelessly to take her financial literacy program national (It's now in New York City high schools.) Lord knows, we need it: The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, in its third annual financial literacy survey, shows that 92 million Americans give themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their personal finance knowledge.

(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

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The Top 10 Women... WalletPop has listed the powerful women who each make a difference in the financial well-being of millions of Americans. The following women and their guiding roles gain special importance now as we come out of the worst recession in decades and muddle through this tentative recovery, anxious for direction.

(AP Photo/Katy Winn)
Fighting Wall St... Sheila Bair, Chairman, FDIC

Mary Schapiro, Chairman, SEC

Bair, the outspoken and decisive head of the FDIC (pictured left), is universally respected for being one of the few people to anticipate problems that led to the credit-market meltdown, which spread across the global financial system. And as Washington puts laws into place to prevent another financial crisis, she is cleaning up the mess -- along with Elizabeth Warren (see below), and SEC chair Mary Schapiro (pictured right), who's been at the forefront of financial regulation for 20 years, serving under four presidents before her appointment to the SEC. They also strive to avert a repeat crisis and shape the way the government will protect Main Street for the next generation. In a May cover story by Time Magazine, these three notables were dubbed the "New Sheriffs of Wall Street."

(AP Photo/Charles Darapak, AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Consumer Protect... Elizabeth Warren, Chairman of the Congressional Panel Overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program

One component of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Harvard Law Professor, Elizabeth Warren is widely expected to direct. (After all, it was her idea.) This consumer watchdog group, devoted to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial practices, will provide clear and accurate information to families (and small businesses) to ensure that bank loans, mortgages, and credit cards are fair and affordable. It will also set safety standards to prevent practices such as hidden credit card fees, deceptive "fine print," and other financial abuses that have escaped oversight so far. In other words, the Bureau will put consumers FIRST -- something Warren, a longtime consumer advocate, has always done.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Financial Litera... Muriel Siebert, CEO, Muriel Siebert & Co.

You likely know Siebert -- the "First Woman of Finance " -- as an advocate for women and business. She's the first woman to own a seat on the NYSE (1967), first woman to be Superintendent of Banking of the State of New York (1977), and the company she founded, Muriel Siebert & Co., is the only woman-owned NYSE brokerage firm with a national presence. She also created Women's Financial Network to help women make smart investment decisions. But there's something else you probably don't know about Siebert: She wants financial literacy to be her legacy. And she has been working tirelessly to take her financial literacy program national (It's now in New York City high schools.) Lord knows, we need it: The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, in its third annual financial literacy survey, shows that 92 million Americans give themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their personal finance knowledge.

(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Get Out of Debt Susan Keating, President & CEO, National Foundation for Credit Counseling

You may not necessarily know Keating, but chances are, you know the organization she runs -- the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. The largest and longest serving nonprofit credit counseling organization, credit counseling agencies that are members of the NFCC served nearly 4 million Americans in 2009. That's up from 2.5 million Americans in 2007, prior to the stock market tumbling and the recession settling in.

(AP Photo/Alex Dorgan-Ross)
Empower and Insp... Maria Shriver, The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything

As host of the nation's premier forum for women -- The Women's Conference -- California First Lady, Maria Shriver, is all about inspiring women to transform themselves and be their own "Architect of Change." The timing of her mission -- and her belief in the "power of WE" -- has never been more relevant. The Shriver Report chronicles these groundbreaking achievements: Women now account for 50% of the workforce (up from 30% a generation ago); 40% of working women are managers or professionals; women hold more than 50% of personal wealth; and are responsible for more than 80% of consumer purchases. Mothers are the primary breadwinners in four of 10 American families!

(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Financial Advice Suze Orman, Host of CNBC's "Suze Orman Show"

Jean Chatzky, "Today Show" Financial Editor

Orman (left) and Chatzky have been educating Americans and doling out financial advice for years -- on everything from budgeting to retirement. True, each personal finance expert has their own approach (Chatzky is more methodical; Orman airs your financial laundry). But their guidance is always eagerly anticipated -- and very well received -- by millions of viewers and readers -- Orman and Chatzky are both best-selling authors, and have each written seven books. You can read Chatzky's weekly columns here on WalletPop, too.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew, Matthew Peyton/Getty Images)
Save Money Kathryn Finney, thebudgetfashionista.com

Stephanie Nelson, couponmom.com

As Americans continue to look for deals on everything from clothing to food, they're finding them with the help of hugely successful money savers Kathryn Finney (left), of thebudgetfashionista, the first fashion blogger for receive a book deal from a major publishing house (How to Be a Budget Fashionista --The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous For Less), and couponmom.com's Stephanie Nelson, author of New York Times bestseller, The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bill in Half. Finney has more than 10,000 followers on Twitter; Nelson's site, couponmom.com, now boasts more than 2.5 million users.

(The Budget Fashionista, AP Photo/John Bazemore)
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