Why Personal Finance Education Is Underutilized: We have entire generations of people who don’t know the first thing about personal finance or economics -- and it shows.

American Thinker ^ | 06/15/2021 | Larry Alton

[SeekAndFind]

In school, you likely learned about logarithmic functions. You likely learned about the American Revolutionary War. You might have even learned about electrochemical bonds. But did you learn anything about the importance of fiscal responsibility or how to manage your basic finances?

The unfortunate reality is that personal finance is not a required curriculum in the public education system, and few schools in this country offer financial courses as electives. As a result, we have entire generations of people who don’t know the first thing about personal finance or economics -- and it shows.

We’re severely underestimating and underutilizing the power of personal finance education in this country, and it’s time to change things for the better.

The Basics of Financial Literacy

What do I mean by “financial education?” That could refer to a broad range of different topics. When I use the term, I’m referring to a common collection of principles associated with financial literacy. These include things like:

•  Budgeting. You make $3,000 per month. Can you afford to move to an apartment that costs $2,500 in rent? This should be a simple question, but there are many adults in this country who won’t be able to give you a straight answer. Budgeting is a fundamental skill that allows people to live within their means -- and plan for a better future.
•  The power of compound interest. Compound interest can be dramatically beneficial or dramatically harmful, depending on the context. In just a few years, even a small amount of credit card debt can spiral out of your control – or a smart investment could make you wealthy -- all thanks to the power of compound interest.
•  Long-term financial thinking.

[Terry L Smith]

Yes, and I continued that as my curriculum in high school, which meant bookkeeping, typing, office correspondence, and the like, with the exception being Russian language, instead of shorthand!
(In 1968, I had a dream we would be doing business with the Russians, and I wanted to be ready for that.)

[P.O.E.]

Marrying the wrong woman can bankrupt you, too.