The federal government wants us all to get smarter about how we spend and save our money. So, a new Office of Financial Literacy – part of the newly-signed financial reform bill – will develop programs meant to educate the American public on savings and loans.

The office is expected to create standards for financial advice programs and to help people find ways to avoid financial scams. Financial literacy is being promoted separately by other groups, too. The LendingTree Foundation, for example, is a recently-created non-profit organization that provides counseling to families in financial turmoil.

In Washington, D.C., Michael Barr, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, told us in a phone press conference yesterday that the government’s financial literacy outreach is meant to help “individuals take the necessary steps to make themselves better educated about what it means to save and borrow, and to conduct the basic transactions in life.”

The attention on …