Are Personal Finance basics taught in Triangle Public Schools?

[MikeJaquish]

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.

Why have school at all, if we require a guarantee that all subjects will be mastered 100%?
Just to baby sit kids rather than put them into labor camps? I like the bar just a little higher.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by michgc

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.

Well said.
Prosperity stems from avoiding traps, for starters.
And, what better time to discuss college loans, than in high school, rather than after stupid crushing debt is incurred for a degree in French literature?

[C_Lan]

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.

Sources? Oh, just personal opinion....

[MB1972]

Originally Posted by C_Lan

Sources? Oh, just personal opinion....

This board is full of personal opinions.