How Visa and Marvel’s ‘Guardians’ Can Help You Avoid Rookie Financial Mistakes

Fighting to keep to your budget? Visa thinks these Marvel characters may be able to teach you some money management skills to help you keep more of your money.

Author:: Valerie Young
Publish date:: May 9, 2016 5:25 PM EDT

Since when did superheroes need a credit card or a savings account? Since the beginning, probably: They're not all as wealthy as billionaire Tony Stark, the guy inside the Iron Man suit, and the Hulk has a tiresome way of ruining Bruce Banner's wardrobe.

Such fictional dilemmas are at the heart of the latest installment in a financial literacy initiative that combines Visa's (V) - Get Report cash-register brand recognition with the pop-culture familiarity of Marvel's superhero universe.

Together, the credit card processor and the Walt Disney (DIS) - Get Reportsubsidiaryhave published a print and digital magazine that uses comic-book memes to illustrate the value of a rainy-day fund, a concept with which Americans need quite a bit of help, according to both recent surveys and the White House.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket's Powerful Plan was produced by Marvel Custom Solutions -- a unit of the entertainment company that customizes its pantheon of heroes for marketing campaigns -- and is available online as well as at public libraries nationwide.

"This comic provides personal finance lessons in a way that excites children," Felton Thomas, president-elect of the national Public Library Association, said in a statement.

Training youngsters early on the basics of good money management provides long-last dividends, experts agree. Some 70% of Americans are worried about their personal finances and another 60% don't have a budget, according to the 2015 Financial Literacy Survey, conducted by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

While 75% of Americans said they could use the help of a professional to manage their finances, nearly a quarter aren't paying their bills on time, the survey found.

A Gallup poll, meanwhile, found that the U.S. ranked 14th in a global survey of financial literacy, behind first place Norway and 12th-place Singapore. The survey looked at money management concepts such as compound interest, inflation, and risk diversification.

"Financial literacy is a life skill and a career skill," said Shannon Schuyler, president of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Charitable Foundation, which runs a financial literacy program called Earn Your Future that provides resources for teachers attempting to help students master financial skills.

"If you have a strong understanding of the financial system and what you need to look for before you get yourself into trouble, then the better off the economy will be, and certainly society overall," Schuyler said.

For the nation to continue to prosper, "we must expand the availability of financial products and services that are fair, affordable, understandable, and reliable," President Obama said in a 2011 proclamation designating April as Financial Literacy Month.

Visa's comic book follows its similarly themed 2012 release, Avengers: Saving the Day and is part of the Foster City, Calif.-based company's own financial literacy push. Its Practical Money Skills for Life program, launched in 1995, has now grown to 42 countries and 16 languages, according to the company's website.

"Financial education is most effective when the public and private sectors work together," Visa's head of U.S. financial education, Hugh Norton, said in a statement. "Our partnership with Marvel and the Public Library Association allows us to make financial education entertaining and engaging, while also offering educators a resource that introduces basic money management concepts to the classroom."

The magazine builds on fans' interest in the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 movie, set for release in May 2017, which follows the 2014 film about a fledgling group of heroes attempting to (what else?) save the universe. It starred Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt, with Vin Diesel providing the voice of Groot, a talking tree whose command of English was limited to the signature phrase, "I am Groot."

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