This guide is intended to assist educators in establishing and organizing consumer education programs for Americans beyond the high school years. It is primarily a tool for tailoring basic consumer curricula to the special characteristics and needs of adult students. Suggestions are given for possible content areas, illustrations are given of teaching situations, and potential instructional resources for the use of teachers in planning their specific local programs are identified. Information about consumer income, spending characteristics and services is included to assist instructors and curriculum planners in understanding patterns of consumer behavior. Major emphasis is given to providing instructors with a better understanding of the particular problems of the under-educated, rural families, the elderly, and Spanish-speaking Americans, among others that have special needs in consumer education. The chapters of the guide are: 1. Consumer Education: A Challenge of the Seventies; 2. Helping Adult Consumers Learn; 3. Developing Content Areas for Consumer Education Programs; 4. Designing Adult Consumer Education Programs; 5. Consumers with Special Needs; and 6. Instructional Resources. (DB)