Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Personal finance is a significant life skill that if a reasonable skill level is developed, can help that child avoid many life-defining mistakes, be more independent and less dependent on others.
You are right on target with this. Seems like a lot of adults can use some personal finance training as well!
They certainly should. Maybe even a Life 101 course! I know they dropped cursive and / or handwriting in many curriculums. I notice some young people carrying conversations like it were a blog.
I agree with having personal financing/budgeting/interest instruction. I would go a little further. If we are talking about "life skills," then I would also add these (you can probably think of a few more):
* How stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, and 401(k)s and IRAs work, and how the stock market operates (the practical things that affect someone who may have a few options as part of working at a small company, for example). After all, pensions are basically no more, and folks who don't put a lot into social security don't get a lot out...
* How mortgages work over time, and what to look for when getting one (there is more to this than just compound interest and the time value of money).
* The top 10 health issues that folks face in old age, and basic strategies for early mitigation (e.g., I didn't know what gout was at an early age, or how a small amount of exercise pays different kinds of health dividends later, or the basics of how the cardiovascular system interacts with typical pharmaceutical treatments for, say, congestive heart failure or hypertension; reading drug data sheets and medical papers is a pain).
I'm an engineer. I have a Ph.D. And I've had to learn a LOT I did NOT even get exposed to in my early years, to deal with my own career, my own health, and providing elder care for parents and in-laws (that's when my REAL education began - when I had to assume responsibility for other people and help them out). So, yeah, I think people should know at least basic calculus - it affect daily life too, and I use it myself every day (I have a technical job). But everyone should know this other stuff too, and there are a LOT of crappy sources out there to waste one's time trying to pick it up on the fly. At least expose people to the notions of these things. I still hate many of the subjects - but I have to deal with them, or suffer for the lack of competence.
I don't really expect the school to teach my child basic life lessons. Although I will say that in 4th grade my son's teacher had an optional stock investment project/contest. The kids built a portfolio and monitored it for a period of time.
Agreed. I would much rather my kids learn finance skills from me than the state.
Agreed. I would much rather my kids learn finance skills from me than the state.
Sure.. Fine. I could tend to agree. Except, responsible kids and adults are pressed to pick up the tab for those many kids who have no one able and/or willing to teach them responsibility at home.
I am kid-less, but I can think of a great many things I would like to steer a kid on, and finance is certainly one of them.
Finance skill lessons are not all that different from other topics teachers spin to their perceptions. It is always up to the home adults to help the kids stay grounded on everything they learn in school.
Hey, I remember learning to make change in 3rd grade, and to count it out.
And, how to read a map at an early age.
Both are fundamental and rapidly disappearing skills.
I hate to burst your bubble but I don't think there is any evidence that teaching finance basics in high school will work out the way you intend. Is a teen even going to remember this stuff when they have money to invest? I highly doubt it.
Is a teen even going to remember this stuff when they have money to invest? I highly doubt it.
I had my three read Ric Edelman's "The Truth About Money" while they were in HS. He has a very easy to read style, explains things very well and covers all aspects of financial planning. I think two of them retained some/most of it, while the third did not, but I think that has more to do with their personalities vs doing it in HS.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,782 posts, read 15,836,055 times
Reputation: 10894
Quote:
Originally Posted by MB1972
I hate to burst your bubble but I don't think there is any evidence that teaching finance basics in high school will work out the way you intend. Is a teen even going to remember this stuff when they have money to invest? I highly doubt it.
Personal finance is much more than investing money. Heck, I'd even argue that personal finance is the course one would take before the course where you learn about investing. It involves teaching people about:
-Setting financial goals - what do you want to buy/do with your money. Talk about long-term versus short-term goals.
-Creating a budget - allocating your money into different categories - food, rent, entertainment, talking about needs versus wants, what to do if your proposed budget exceeds your income, how to pay bills online
-Talking about savings - Discussing how each budget should have a line item for savings - savings for unexpected expenses, savings to meet your financial goals
-Learning about the "magic of compounding" - Pure math, showing how interest rates work and how savings build over time.
-Discussing debt - the benefits of using debt, the negatives of using debt, how debt can get some people into trouble, how payback on interest works.
-Learning about taxes - that when you get a job that pays you $10 per hour, you will only be bringing home $8 an hour, showing them what a basic tax form looks like.
-Touch on retirement planning. Why we need to put money aside for retirement starting with your first full-time job.
All of the above subjects could be altered to meet the students' age/grade levels. Goals and practices can be discussed that have meaning to high school students rather than adults :
-What to do with the money from your part-time job
-What the expenses are that your parents expect you to pay for with your part-time job
-How to divide up the money that you earn to take care of those expenses
-The importance of saving some of that money for your goals
-How to pay for college - might even discuss financial aid options, loans, scholarships
-How to save for a car
-Sticking savings in a bank account versus in your piggy bank at home, looking up the best interest rates on the internet on said bank accounts
-The trap some people get into using credit cards for things they don't need or have money for
-Filling out a basic EZ tax form
Will some students learn absolutely nothing in the class and go on to become adults who get themselves in debt, never set a budget, not have a clue about anything financial? Probably. But will some students take away some of the information they have learned and apply it to their lives as they age? Probably. I think that's the case with all subjects taught in school.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
