April is National Financial Literacy Month, and with the income tax deadline of April 15 bearing down, it’s probably a good time to think about ways to control your spending, grow your savings and plan for unexpected expenses as well as retirement.

Let’s face it, financial planning is daunting, especially when you’re already in the hole. For people in their 20s, with college debt and all the expenses required for starting out in life, it’s hard to think about socking anything away. Those in their 30s or 40s, meanwhile, are usually struggling to raise a family and pay the monthly mortgage. While financial literacy can take different forms – from knowing what the various banking options are to the more elaborate terminology used on Wall Street – the bottom line is learning how to put your money to work for you.

While experts say time is usually on the investor’s side – since compounding interest over a period of many years is really nothing short of a miracle ­– people of all ages can benefit from financial literacy. And while thousands of books have been written on the subject, here’s some of the best advice we’ve run across recently:

• Build your safety net, first. Bad things happen in life, and that’s why you need to set aside savings that will serve as an emergency fund in case you suddenly have major medical problems or lose your job, says Jim Chilton, executive director of the nonprofit Society for Financial Awareness. He recommends a six- to 12-month cushion that would cover your mortgage, groceries, utilities and the other necessities of day-to-day living.

• Get out of debt. Since Americans are carrying more than $800 billion in credit card debt, Chilton also says, “You need to start making a plan to get rid of that debt.” Paying interest to a bank or credit card issuer any longer than you have to should be avoided.

• Stick to a budget. Old-fashioned budgeting can be a fiscal lifesaver, especially since Social Security probably won’t cover all of our expenses in retirement. According to the Money section of the CNN website, “Budgets are a necessary evil. They’re the only practical way to get a grip on your spending – and to make sure your money is being used the way you want it to be used. Creating a budget generally requires three steps: Identify how you’re spending money now; Evaluate your spending and set goals that take into account your long-term financial objectives; Track your spending to make sure it stays within those guidelines.”

• Invest for the long haul. Steady gains in stocks, bonds and bank accounts can really add up. According to the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America, a person can build a small fortune saving $50 a month for 40 years (assuming a 5 percent rate of return). For example, following that monthly regimen, a person would save $614 after one year, $3,400 after five years, $7,764 after 10 years, $29,775 after 25 years and $76,301 after 40 years. That is amazing.

• Take advantage of employer matches. According to the consumer federation, many employers match employee contributions to a retirement account, usually in a 401-K plan. If your company matches contributions, and you can afford to take advantage of the full match, do so. It’s like free money.

• Get a Roth IRA. Taxes take a big bite out of investment savings. But there is a way around some of it. Most financial planners recommend investors maximize their Roth IRA contribution each year, due to its long-term tax benefits. The financial newsletter Kiplinger’s puts it this way: “The power of (a Roth IRA) may seem a tad obscure, but it can really pay off big. If a 25-year-old contributes $5,000 each year until she retires and makes an average annual return of 8 percent on her investment, she’ll have $1.4 million saved by the time she retires at age 65. And the money is all hers – she won’t have to give the IRS a cent of it if she waits until retirement to withdraw the earnings. If that same 25-year-old invested that same $5,000 a year in a taxable account earning the same 8 percent return, she’d only have about $1 million after 40 years if her earnings were taxed at 15 percent each year. That’s more than one-fourth less money than if she’d gone with the Roth. If state taxes bit into the earnings each year, too, she’d be down even more.”

Life is expensive. We have lots of bills. And American debt levels, which are reaching pre-recession figures, prove that we have a tough time paying those bills. But if the Great Recession has taught us anything, it’s that debt is a monster and needs to be addressed before it gets out of control. Now, if only we could get our spendthrift politicians to feel the same way about fiscal planning …

–John Balentine, managing editor