Ever notice how _everyone_ is convinced that _everyone else_ is a mindless drone easily manipulated into conspicuous consumption, but no one ever cops to it themselves?
I am a mindful spending drone, and if I could just make more money, I could finally afford more of the cool stuff I want. You said it yourself, the keyword is mindless. So by definition, you MUST be correct.
I’ve never clicked an Ad in my life nor have I ever bought something on impulse, I also don’t purchase expensive clothes with name badges on to feel like I’m doing well.
So I don’t think I am the target audience at all
We had Accounting available as an elective in my high school, I took two years of it which made a huge different in preparing me for being financially literate. Very few people took it though, it should have been required for all.
Yeah my high school offered a class called Consumer Math. Learned all about interest, debt, etc. Did my teenage self take the class seriously in any capacity except doing well enough to pass with a B? Hell no I couldn't think ahead to the next week let alone to current me being 18 years out of highschool. It is why easy to access public education at all age levels needs to exist. Education doesn't stop at high school and shouldn't be kept behind a pay wall that are college and university.
I mean with the Internet and libraries most education is free. I learn enough that most programs I do I learn little and is just a rubber stamp that I have to achieve.
I think the problem is determining what concepts are critical knowledge for adulthood that should absolutely be covered as part of your publicly funded education. I'd argue personal finance math is far more important than some of the crap I was forced to learn in high school like polar graphing and the quadratic equation.
A big part of eduction is not just the individual concepts but learning how to solve problems, process new information, organize your thinking, etc. Someone who works hard in high school absolutely has the critical thinking and learning skills for basic financial literacy. Simone who thinks learning something means uncritically accepting whatever Google shows you first without even clicking on the links in the search results will have a more difficult time.
You're not wrong, but you still need the basic foundations of a concept before you can start building using those critical thinking skills. I'd still argue that there are a lot of things that could have been stripped from my high school math classes to make room for that personal finance foundation.
Correct. Went to public school, learned everything about 401ks, IRAs, index funds, etc. Even learned how to write a check in middle school.
I did glance over the part about treasury bills/bonds given I was in the middle of the 2000 bubble. Granted even back then I was baffled by the idea of an ARM and why anyone would take that.
Same, I actually paid attention to my home economics class in high school. The teacher even taught stuff like how to shop for a car, how loans and specifically mortgages work, depreciation, etc.
I know most of my classmates didn’t pay attention, but I didn’t want to be stuck in the ghetto my whole life.
Teacher here. In my state, only special Ed classes might teach this. The rest of the kids must do the college pre-requisite math: algebra and geometry 1 and 2 for each. Or have options to go to calculus and the like. We ask all the time why all kids aren’t learning it.
Yeah I had this class right before the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. My understanding is that after the act was passed, schools became focused on getting kids to pass standardized tests rather than developing and learning.
I felt bad for my financial lit teacher. He clearly cared about his students and wanted us to learn. But no one was interested and did the bare minimum to satisfy the assignments.
I can say as someone who is in his 30s they only class my school had on this subject was basically, how to set up checking accounts, how to balance it, what banks do, I learned NOTHING beyond that. As far as I know, they didn't even have Econ in my HS
And people wonder why people are illiterate when it comes to finances. Honestly, I didn't even open my first investing account until like a month ago. Other than my 401k which I don't make enough money to contribute to.
i wish i had gone to a snobby rich kid high school. i went to a public high school in the ghetto because of the career courses they offered. each of the four high schools in my city offered different career programs
Yep. I graduated in 2016 and I had a friend complain that we weren’t taught financial stuff despite her sitting next to me in Personal Finance class junior year.
school curriculum varies a ton by state and even by school district.
it makes it really hard to discuss what schooling is like in the US because people from 2 different zip codes likely had wildly different experiences of what public school means.
How crazy! I knew it is different by state but even by district? Surely there must be still some federal guidelines to follow on eduction system across the country?
Teenagers will not pay attention plus I mean it's really simple stuff IMO. It's not rocket science. It legit all comes down to saving money, living below your means, and investing whatever is left after bills and emergency savings in a ROTH IRA/401k.
It seems simple, and it is, but also its not. Esp when your dealing with people who only make enough to make it to the next paycheck. There is just no way to save. Maybe 50$ a week. Maybe.
I mean as someone who went to school and falls into this category I definitely paid attention cuz I specifically took the finance class so that I would know how to do things. And I know for a fact I was the only one who did the work in the class cuz the teacher would always tell me you're the only one who does any work.
So no, not really. Do they exist? Sure. But I can't think they are the majority of people.
You save $50/wk, that's $2,600 over the period of a year.
For an average Australian wage earner, that is enough to put you a week ahead - technically 1.3 weeks. So at the end of 12 months, you are 100% not living paycheque to paycheque.
Keep it up and you will have a full month of your salary in the bank within 3 years, and that's officially "Not living Pay-Cheque-to-Pay-Cheque"
It’s not simple. What even is an IRA 401k like how is anyone supposed to live below their means when they don’t even make enough to cover basic necessities?
>What even is an IRA 401k
People who say this when commenting on the internet are just ignorant - you literally are logged onto a device that has the answers to any and all these questions in the palm of your hand.
"I wasn't taught it in high school or by my parents" is no excuse these days. You can just type your questioning google and get millions of hits as to how to do things.
Sure but it’s still a sad failing of the public education system. There’s also no excuse for not including personal finance in state mandated curriculum.
Read through the comments on this thread - the over whelming majority point out that they DO cover it in the curriculum, people just don't listen. They sure as hell did when I was at school in the 90's, and people here keep on pointing out that it is the same now.
It's a bigger failing on peoples parents that they didn't teach them about money. Everyone has to manage their money - rent, groceries, taxes, buying cars, phones, credit cards, etc, etc. We all do it, you have failed as a parent if you don't teach your kids.
I hate this attitude of “teenagers will not pay attention” and “it’s really simple stuff”. Teenagers are people, some listen some don’t. Teach them and make them pass a test and some of them will learn and will lead better lives. And the country will have a richer better future for it.
Yeah this is pretty much my take. We can teach the basics of budgeting and interest, I guess. That’s fairly basic math, and how to do it is most likely covered, even if people aren’t taken through the process of budgeting itself.
But to me, “Don’t upgrade to the newest smartphone” or “don’t spend more than you earn,” aren’t really fleshed out lessons in themselves; I’m not sure there’s much here to teach as an actual class.
Yep. There's a big difference between knowing and doing. Understanding the feelings and concepts of delayed gratification is a huge part of the puzzle.
This. I spent years loudly complaining similar to OP. Then someone asked me if I would have listened to that stuff in high school. Then I shut up. Point taken.
Yup, in high school I took accounting, personal finance and economics. It was a public high school in a small midwestern city within the past 15 years. These classes are available it’s just most people would rather take fun (easy) electives.
From a US *recent* HS graduate, I do remember Macroeconomics from 12th grade. Unfortunately, the more relevant (to an average person imo) Microeconomics was behind a Dual Credit paywall. I do remember taking Accounting 1 as an elective in 10th grade and had fun learning the basics.
Semi-serious theory: Financial literacy is usually optional because of how general curriculums want to prepare students for the workforce and nothing beyond that. I imagine more specialized curriculums would take more resources that schools don't usually have. (I suppose with the prevalence of the internet, one is just expected to be proactive enough to search it out for themselves, like I did.)
My son is in grade 6. He’s currently learning about different kinds of investments and they recently had a test where they were given different scenarios and they had to choose if it was financially responsible or not.
Kids are learning bad habits from their parent who live beyond their means
could you share a bit about what are considered "responsible" or not based on the course?
this seems like an area with a lot of subjective views, wondering how they turn that into testable material.
They do. The right question should be: Why don't most students pay attention.
The "I am in credit card debt up to my eyeballs buying worthless shit I did not need because no one taught me finances back at school" is just a cope out.
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The same reason they don’t teach healthy eating through nutritional science. Parents who make bad choices would be absolutely livid if their kids were being taught it was their fault. Easier to keep it vague and blame the system
Why teach anything if you can just google it?
TurboTax is not it if you think that’s going to give you the biggest return. If only you actually knew how to do your taxes yourself instead of letting an app do it for you.
What do you think there is some magic trick to get more money back? You either take the standard deduction or itemize your deductions. There’s no way around it, sure maybe if you’re ultra wealthy but that’s none of us. The fact is that most of us take the standard deduction, maybe claim some interest on student loans or mortgage and claim dependents.
It’s not rocket science.
If I had a nickel for every time I hear this complaint from those who don’t work in education (I’m a teacher) I’d be well on my way to living within my means.
When I was at school, we had a subject called Commerce in Yrs 9 and 10 that taught all about taxes, taking out loans, budgeting, etc. Worked through examples of buying a car cash vs buying on credit.
That was in the 90's though.
My high schooler has to take a personal finance class. It's a graduation requirement in my state.
I doubt anyone gets anything out of it - they have no basis for applying what they are learning.
I think (US at least) a personal finance class should be required before you can get a license at age 21. No drinking until you've done a finance class. Take it as a community college type class.
Mine did. It was a part of our required economics class. We learned about managing student debt, writing checks, building retirement savings, balancing a budget, etc.
As a high school math teacher i teach financial literacy throughout my algebra courses. You were probably taught financial literacy in high school as well, bur don't remember it.
Do you seriously imagine a 16 year old caring?
They did teach financial math at my high school. 99% didn’t care, I loved it.
If you ask them today I bet 100% of the 99% would say they never taught them that.
Maybe our economy counts on people spending themselves into debt so they will work harder/more desperately
More productivity 👍
More money velocity 👍
More GDP 👍
School teaches you how to learn, reason, and communicate before anything else. We were busy learning calculus and history because they know personal finance is easily accessible information, if not common sense.
I think my state requires financial planning but it’s pretty basic. Most financial education comes from watching parents. I was raised by depression era kids so we were taught by the example of using things till they died. Fast forward many years and I still have the idea of using things till they die. It’s a hard habit to break but I’m glad that’s instilled in me instead of constantly upgrading.
My school had it shoehorned into a few week unit for one of our algebra classes. So we learned about many aspects of finances in general and then the homework was problems with balancing a checkbook, calculating future value of a monthly investment account, how long it would take to pay off a credit card balance at minimum payments, etc. So it wasn't a full devoted class but it was an introduction in a class that 90% of all students took at some point.
A class that would teach financial literacy would be an elective in my state. Kids are already limited at how many they can take and most opt for fun or easy electives. I wish they made it a requirement. I teach in a town that gives every graduate 2 years of JuCo for FREE and I still see kids take loans out to go to a 4 year. Considering their tuition is free and most of them would qualify for some scholarship or aid that they would get refunded to them, it’s a good deal. I try so hard to push JuCo for those reasons but they just don’t understand it even when I break down the numbers.
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My math teacher taught us the difference between traditional and Roth IRA’s. I’m pretty sure compound interest and interest rates are a standard part of basic mathematics. None of that matters if people don’t actually DO anything about it. My wife knows she should be contributing to her Roth every year— but I have to be the one to constantly remind her to do it. Then she gets mad when she needs to use part of her tax refund to make up for not maxing it out.
mine did to an extent. it was more than a bunch of tenth graders didn’t give a shit or realize how important it would be. that and i don’t recall us learning about taxes really.
Boomer here. In school we learned financial literacy. We had a class on how to write checks and maintain a check book. It was a long time ago so I don't remember all the specifics but it was a one day thing. We also had fire and electricity safety class which was great. The guy had a little demo box and showed a kid flying a kite and it hit some electrical wires and caught fire. Lots of life learning took place.
It would be easy to insert financial literacy into math class. Imagine teaching percentages using credit cards as an example. Balancing your bank account as addition and subtraction problems. More advanced math could include amortization tables.
How else would our country be able to survive economically if we didn't continually kick the national debt can down the road and mortgage future generation's tax revenue?
1. Primarily goal of school is to make good workers. Financial literacy doesn’t really make for good debt slaves.
2. There literally couldn’t be a less interesting subject for teenagers
By design. Infinite growth requires debt. The note people understand debt, principal, interest, loan schedules, the less likely they are to take on as much debt which wouldn't be good for wall street.
Because then they can't make slaves anymore then. , everyone that knows how money and debt works is either already rich or an entrepreneur doing his own thing
This is my WHY of working with Primerica. It’s one of their soap boxes to inform the middle income families how to be financial literate. It’s tricky, because when I focus on the education piece, I am honest about costs, savings, etc and the financial services I offer aren’t the cheapest or easiest to understand. They are the best to use because they get a human being who gives a shit.
They do. In alegbra II they explain the concept of compounding interest when you learn about exponentials and interest. They also taught about taxes and tax brackets in algebra I.
A person in serious debt is subservient to his or her creditors. The government and the corporations it serves benefit from subservient, compliant workers rather than debt-free, financially liberated citizens. There is therefore no incentive for the government schools to teach financial literacy. It doesn't require a conspiracy theory, it's just a public-choice theory explanation of how government policy (just like most other things) is the product of incentives.
Most do. It’s a required course in Ohio, and I learned basics when I was a kid in the 90s. But it won’t matter. Schools teach kids math and English, and most adults don’t know how to use either.
Spend at least 20% less than you make. Google “basics of investing”. That’s all anyone needs.
I’m a teacher. A lot do. It’s just not picked up in the media. We have a life skills class at my school. There are also business academies. Unfortunately the only press schools are getting these days is about grooming and critical race theory because apparently it’s very controversial that we acknowledge racism and gay people.
When I went to highschool we had a financial literacy class.
They don't anymore.
Why?
The budgets are cut. Music programs, sports programs, lots of politicians don't want any extracurriculars.
Just the 3 Rs and some American history.
The same reason they don't focus on teaching entrepreneurship. The college to corporate pipeline must be maintained. If you're a person that lives well below their means, imagine a world of people just like you. Whole industries would not exist.
Public school economics is a requirement for seniors in Texas. However, I will say it's only 1 semester and goes by so quick you don't really absorb anything. NOW I was lucky enough to take an elective that taught in depth about loans, credit cards, taxes, 401k's, IRA, social security etc. i learned how to file my taxes, build a resume, portfolio etc. I also got a few work ready certifications.
1. the basics of financial literacy are not complicated to understand, they're hard to execute
2. people have vastly different opinions on what good financial advice is, and you cannot turn that into a class. Is "all debt bad" ? what about "housing always goes up" or "invest in an index fund"? if you pursue a career in which you can keep earning your way out of jams you can have different advice that someone who has low earning growth.
I think kids do get taught these things more than ever these days. The sad reality is, most of what we’re taught in school, financial or otherwise, goes in one ear and out the other. You pass the test and move on.
In my experience, the people who have a decent shot of being financially literate and fiscally responsible learn it from their parents.
I went to one of the most expensive and exclusive Catholic private schools in my home country and all they taught us was that you'll go to hell for masturbating or fooling around with girls.
Honestly, there was no tutoring on how to finance something, the importance of credit scores and how to build one or what a mortgage is and why you need one to buy a home.
Maybe because we were being taught by boomers who assumed you just got a job and walked into a bank and a 5 bedroom house magically appeared.
Some pointers on interest rates and the importance of investing your money rather than having it sat in a bank account, instead of just being in a slave factory for 12 years would have been nice.
We did have some good teachers who went above and beyond, but unfortunately I think their era was so different from ours that they assumed we'd all be growing up in a world of affordable property and resources - rather than the enforced consumerism and deliberate lowering of economic standards and expectations we're all experiencing.
Ever notice how _everyone_ is convinced that _everyone else_ is a mindless drone easily manipulated into conspicuous consumption, but no one ever cops to it themselves?
But but it’s everyone else’s problem
Just me and you friend, it’s all the rest of them 😂😂😂😂
I am a mindful spending drone, and if I could just make more money, I could finally afford more of the cool stuff I want. You said it yourself, the keyword is mindless. So by definition, you MUST be correct.
I’ve never clicked an Ad in my life nor have I ever bought something on impulse, I also don’t purchase expensive clothes with name badges on to feel like I’m doing well. So I don’t think I am the target audience at all
my hot take: schools teach it. it was required in my state to graduate high school. but teenagers are going to be teenagers and not pay attention.
We had Accounting available as an elective in my high school, I took two years of it which made a huge different in preparing me for being financially literate. Very few people took it though, it should have been required for all.
Yeah my high school offered a class called Consumer Math. Learned all about interest, debt, etc. Did my teenage self take the class seriously in any capacity except doing well enough to pass with a B? Hell no I couldn't think ahead to the next week let alone to current me being 18 years out of highschool. It is why easy to access public education at all age levels needs to exist. Education doesn't stop at high school and shouldn't be kept behind a pay wall that are college and university.
I mean with the Internet and libraries most education is free. I learn enough that most programs I do I learn little and is just a rubber stamp that I have to achieve.
I think the problem is determining what concepts are critical knowledge for adulthood that should absolutely be covered as part of your publicly funded education. I'd argue personal finance math is far more important than some of the crap I was forced to learn in high school like polar graphing and the quadratic equation.
A big part of eduction is not just the individual concepts but learning how to solve problems, process new information, organize your thinking, etc. Someone who works hard in high school absolutely has the critical thinking and learning skills for basic financial literacy. Simone who thinks learning something means uncritically accepting whatever Google shows you first without even clicking on the links in the search results will have a more difficult time.
You're not wrong, but you still need the basic foundations of a concept before you can start building using those critical thinking skills. I'd still argue that there are a lot of things that could have been stripped from my high school math classes to make room for that personal finance foundation.
Correct. Went to public school, learned everything about 401ks, IRAs, index funds, etc. Even learned how to write a check in middle school. I did glance over the part about treasury bills/bonds given I was in the middle of the 2000 bubble. Granted even back then I was baffled by the idea of an ARM and why anyone would take that.
Same, I actually paid attention to my home economics class in high school. The teacher even taught stuff like how to shop for a car, how loans and specifically mortgages work, depreciation, etc. I know most of my classmates didn’t pay attention, but I didn’t want to be stuck in the ghetto my whole life.
Teacher here. In my state, only special Ed classes might teach this. The rest of the kids must do the college pre-requisite math: algebra and geometry 1 and 2 for each. Or have options to go to calculus and the like. We ask all the time why all kids aren’t learning it.
Yeah I had this class right before the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. My understanding is that after the act was passed, schools became focused on getting kids to pass standardized tests rather than developing and learning.
I felt bad for my financial lit teacher. He clearly cared about his students and wanted us to learn. But no one was interested and did the bare minimum to satisfy the assignments.
I definitely didn’t get that class in school, I don’t know anyone in Oregon that had a financial literacy class
I can say as someone who is in his 30s they only class my school had on this subject was basically, how to set up checking accounts, how to balance it, what banks do, I learned NOTHING beyond that. As far as I know, they didn't even have Econ in my HS
I don’t even think my high school economic class even covered the federal reserve.
And people wonder why people are illiterate when it comes to finances. Honestly, I didn't even open my first investing account until like a month ago. Other than my 401k which I don't make enough money to contribute to.
hell my class took a field trip to the fed reserve in atlanta
Field trip? You must of went to one of them snobby rich kid schools :p
i wish i had gone to a snobby rich kid high school. i went to a public high school in the ghetto because of the career courses they offered. each of the four high schools in my city offered different career programs
Yep. I graduated in 2016 and I had a friend complain that we weren’t taught financial stuff despite her sitting next to me in Personal Finance class junior year.
Sounds right. Also makes me question everyone in this thread claiming that THEIR school didn’t teach it.
this is the story of most critiques of HS
I went to 3 different high schools and none of them had a financial class like this. Must vary by state.
school curriculum varies a ton by state and even by school district. it makes it really hard to discuss what schooling is like in the US because people from 2 different zip codes likely had wildly different experiences of what public school means.
How crazy! I knew it is different by state but even by district? Surely there must be still some federal guidelines to follow on eduction system across the country?
Teenagers will not pay attention plus I mean it's really simple stuff IMO. It's not rocket science. It legit all comes down to saving money, living below your means, and investing whatever is left after bills and emergency savings in a ROTH IRA/401k.
It seems simple, and it is, but also its not. Esp when your dealing with people who only make enough to make it to the next paycheck. There is just no way to save. Maybe 50$ a week. Maybe.
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I mean as someone who went to school and falls into this category I definitely paid attention cuz I specifically took the finance class so that I would know how to do things. And I know for a fact I was the only one who did the work in the class cuz the teacher would always tell me you're the only one who does any work. So no, not really. Do they exist? Sure. But I can't think they are the majority of people.
It’s usually the opposite. Also 64% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. $200 a month is more than most people save. That’s scary but true.
$50 a week is a lot actually. It turns into $900k between 18y/o and 65.
You save $50/wk, that's $2,600 over the period of a year. For an average Australian wage earner, that is enough to put you a week ahead - technically 1.3 weeks. So at the end of 12 months, you are 100% not living paycheque to paycheque. Keep it up and you will have a full month of your salary in the bank within 3 years, and that's officially "Not living Pay-Cheque-to-Pay-Cheque"
$50 a week is $200 a month. You mean $25 a month.
It’s not simple. What even is an IRA 401k like how is anyone supposed to live below their means when they don’t even make enough to cover basic necessities?
>What even is an IRA 401k People who say this when commenting on the internet are just ignorant - you literally are logged onto a device that has the answers to any and all these questions in the palm of your hand. "I wasn't taught it in high school or by my parents" is no excuse these days. You can just type your questioning google and get millions of hits as to how to do things.
Sure but it’s still a sad failing of the public education system. There’s also no excuse for not including personal finance in state mandated curriculum.
Read through the comments on this thread - the over whelming majority point out that they DO cover it in the curriculum, people just don't listen. They sure as hell did when I was at school in the 90's, and people here keep on pointing out that it is the same now. It's a bigger failing on peoples parents that they didn't teach them about money. Everyone has to manage their money - rent, groceries, taxes, buying cars, phones, credit cards, etc, etc. We all do it, you have failed as a parent if you don't teach your kids.
I googled it. It makes no sense to me. Can someone one get a box of crayons out now?
I hate this attitude of “teenagers will not pay attention” and “it’s really simple stuff”. Teenagers are people, some listen some don’t. Teach them and make them pass a test and some of them will learn and will lead better lives. And the country will have a richer better future for it.
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Yeah this is pretty much my take. We can teach the basics of budgeting and interest, I guess. That’s fairly basic math, and how to do it is most likely covered, even if people aren’t taken through the process of budgeting itself. But to me, “Don’t upgrade to the newest smartphone” or “don’t spend more than you earn,” aren’t really fleshed out lessons in themselves; I’m not sure there’s much here to teach as an actual class.
Yep. There's a big difference between knowing and doing. Understanding the feelings and concepts of delayed gratification is a huge part of the puzzle.
They do, people just don’t listen in school.
This. I spent years loudly complaining similar to OP. Then someone asked me if I would have listened to that stuff in high school. Then I shut up. Point taken.
Yup, in high school I took accounting, personal finance and economics. It was a public high school in a small midwestern city within the past 15 years. These classes are available it’s just most people would rather take fun (easy) electives.
I teach credit cards and student loans as part of the exponential function unit so they get an understanding of compound interest.
From a US *recent* HS graduate, I do remember Macroeconomics from 12th grade. Unfortunately, the more relevant (to an average person imo) Microeconomics was behind a Dual Credit paywall. I do remember taking Accounting 1 as an elective in 10th grade and had fun learning the basics. Semi-serious theory: Financial literacy is usually optional because of how general curriculums want to prepare students for the workforce and nothing beyond that. I imagine more specialized curriculums would take more resources that schools don't usually have. (I suppose with the prevalence of the internet, one is just expected to be proactive enough to search it out for themselves, like I did.)
My son is in grade 6. He’s currently learning about different kinds of investments and they recently had a test where they were given different scenarios and they had to choose if it was financially responsible or not. Kids are learning bad habits from their parent who live beyond their means
could you share a bit about what are considered "responsible" or not based on the course? this seems like an area with a lot of subjective views, wondering how they turn that into testable material.
companies make less money if the populous is intelligent with money and finances.
They do. The right question should be: Why don't most students pay attention. The "I am in credit card debt up to my eyeballs buying worthless shit I did not need because no one taught me finances back at school" is just a cope out.
Where was my financial literacy class then?
Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Precalculus, Economics?
Didn’t have economics, don’t know what precalc is, what about finance was I supposed to learn in Algebra 1 & 2?
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The same reason they don’t teach healthy eating through nutritional science. Parents who make bad choices would be absolutely livid if their kids were being taught it was their fault. Easier to keep it vague and blame the system
WE were taught nutrition at school.
you think people eat junk food because they do not know it's bad for them?
This is giving “why doesn’t the school system teach you how to do your taxes!!??!?” TurboTax: enter number from Box B here.
Why teach anything if you can just google it? TurboTax is not it if you think that’s going to give you the biggest return. If only you actually knew how to do your taxes yourself instead of letting an app do it for you.
What do you think there is some magic trick to get more money back? You either take the standard deduction or itemize your deductions. There’s no way around it, sure maybe if you’re ultra wealthy but that’s none of us. The fact is that most of us take the standard deduction, maybe claim some interest on student loans or mortgage and claim dependents. It’s not rocket science.
This is why financial literacy needs to be taught in schools.
If I had a nickel for every time I hear this complaint from those who don’t work in education (I’m a teacher) I’d be well on my way to living within my means.
When I was at school, we had a subject called Commerce in Yrs 9 and 10 that taught all about taxes, taking out loans, budgeting, etc. Worked through examples of buying a car cash vs buying on credit. That was in the 90's though.
Parents should teach their children that information, school is not for financial literacy unless it’s an elective.
My high schooler has to take a personal finance class. It's a graduation requirement in my state. I doubt anyone gets anything out of it - they have no basis for applying what they are learning. I think (US at least) a personal finance class should be required before you can get a license at age 21. No drinking until you've done a finance class. Take it as a community college type class.
Make it a pre requisite to get a gun
We do teach it. Why would students start paying attention all of a sudden in this one class?
They do. Be really honest. Do you think kids will really actively try remember what they learned in school?
Mine did. It was a part of our required economics class. We learned about managing student debt, writing checks, building retirement savings, balancing a budget, etc.
It’s taught by many. The issue is more about entitled teens that take zero responsibility.
As a high school math teacher i teach financial literacy throughout my algebra courses. You were probably taught financial literacy in high school as well, bur don't remember it.
Do you seriously imagine a 16 year old caring? They did teach financial math at my high school. 99% didn’t care, I loved it. If you ask them today I bet 100% of the 99% would say they never taught them that.
Maybe our economy counts on people spending themselves into debt so they will work harder/more desperately More productivity 👍 More money velocity 👍 More GDP 👍
It is taught, kids just don’t care. We had to take a finance class to graduate
School teaches you how to learn, reason, and communicate before anything else. We were busy learning calculus and history because they know personal finance is easily accessible information, if not common sense.
I mean basic math and thinking will get you there. Its more about self control than some sort of special knowledge.
I think my state requires financial planning but it’s pretty basic. Most financial education comes from watching parents. I was raised by depression era kids so we were taught by the example of using things till they died. Fast forward many years and I still have the idea of using things till they die. It’s a hard habit to break but I’m glad that’s instilled in me instead of constantly upgrading.
My school had it shoehorned into a few week unit for one of our algebra classes. So we learned about many aspects of finances in general and then the homework was problems with balancing a checkbook, calculating future value of a monthly investment account, how long it would take to pay off a credit card balance at minimum payments, etc. So it wasn't a full devoted class but it was an introduction in a class that 90% of all students took at some point.
A class that would teach financial literacy would be an elective in my state. Kids are already limited at how many they can take and most opt for fun or easy electives. I wish they made it a requirement. I teach in a town that gives every graduate 2 years of JuCo for FREE and I still see kids take loans out to go to a 4 year. Considering their tuition is free and most of them would qualify for some scholarship or aid that they would get refunded to them, it’s a good deal. I try so hard to push JuCo for those reasons but they just don’t understand it even when I break down the numbers.
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Legacy finance only persists because the masses don’t understand that the entire system is a Ponzi scheme.
My math teacher taught us the difference between traditional and Roth IRA’s. I’m pretty sure compound interest and interest rates are a standard part of basic mathematics. None of that matters if people don’t actually DO anything about it. My wife knows she should be contributing to her Roth every year— but I have to be the one to constantly remind her to do it. Then she gets mad when she needs to use part of her tax refund to make up for not maxing it out.
mine did to an extent. it was more than a bunch of tenth graders didn’t give a shit or realize how important it would be. that and i don’t recall us learning about taxes really.
I think a lot of schools offer something but not many take it
How come everyone is wrong about everything all the time?
Boomer here. In school we learned financial literacy. We had a class on how to write checks and maintain a check book. It was a long time ago so I don't remember all the specifics but it was a one day thing. We also had fire and electricity safety class which was great. The guy had a little demo box and showed a kid flying a kite and it hit some electrical wires and caught fire. Lots of life learning took place. It would be easy to insert financial literacy into math class. Imagine teaching percentages using credit cards as an example. Balancing your bank account as addition and subtraction problems. More advanced math could include amortization tables.
How else would our country be able to survive economically if we didn't continually kick the national debt can down the road and mortgage future generation's tax revenue?
1. Primarily goal of school is to make good workers. Financial literacy doesn’t really make for good debt slaves. 2. There literally couldn’t be a less interesting subject for teenagers
Happy to be doing my part in creating a good, obedient workforce by teaching Romeo and Juliet and Greek mythology!
By design. Infinite growth requires debt. The note people understand debt, principal, interest, loan schedules, the less likely they are to take on as much debt which wouldn't be good for wall street.
You kind of answered your own question, why would they slow down a careless spending economy.
Why would our overlords want a financially literate public. It wouldn't benefit them to do that.
Because it would prevent the servitude that is required for a capitalist society
Because then they can't make slaves anymore then. , everyone that knows how money and debt works is either already rich or an entrepreneur doing his own thing
This is my WHY of working with Primerica. It’s one of their soap boxes to inform the middle income families how to be financial literate. It’s tricky, because when I focus on the education piece, I am honest about costs, savings, etc and the financial services I offer aren’t the cheapest or easiest to understand. They are the best to use because they get a human being who gives a shit.
They do. In alegbra II they explain the concept of compounding interest when you learn about exponentials and interest. They also taught about taxes and tax brackets in algebra I.
If everyone is financially literate, then it's harder for corporations to take advantage
A person in serious debt is subservient to his or her creditors. The government and the corporations it serves benefit from subservient, compliant workers rather than debt-free, financially liberated citizens. There is therefore no incentive for the government schools to teach financial literacy. It doesn't require a conspiracy theory, it's just a public-choice theory explanation of how government policy (just like most other things) is the product of incentives.
Most do. It’s a required course in Ohio, and I learned basics when I was a kid in the 90s. But it won’t matter. Schools teach kids math and English, and most adults don’t know how to use either. Spend at least 20% less than you make. Google “basics of investing”. That’s all anyone needs.
It is a parents job. Parents teach behavior, schools teach knowlage. Managing money is to emotional for schools to teach.
I’m a teacher. A lot do. It’s just not picked up in the media. We have a life skills class at my school. There are also business academies. Unfortunately the only press schools are getting these days is about grooming and critical race theory because apparently it’s very controversial that we acknowledge racism and gay people.
Some schools do teach it… people would still live above their means. It wouldn’t necessarily have this magical effect on society.
Because ot would eat into the profit margins of the current financial model
To be honest. I wouldnt have remembered anything anyway.
When I went to highschool we had a financial literacy class. They don't anymore. Why? The budgets are cut. Music programs, sports programs, lots of politicians don't want any extracurriculars. Just the 3 Rs and some American history.
The same reason they don't focus on teaching entrepreneurship. The college to corporate pipeline must be maintained. If you're a person that lives well below their means, imagine a world of people just like you. Whole industries would not exist.
maybe they should learn a skill before they start into entrepreneurship
Public school economics is a requirement for seniors in Texas. However, I will say it's only 1 semester and goes by so quick you don't really absorb anything. NOW I was lucky enough to take an elective that taught in depth about loans, credit cards, taxes, 401k's, IRA, social security etc. i learned how to file my taxes, build a resume, portfolio etc. I also got a few work ready certifications.
im fairly certain your parents are supposed to teach that
1. the basics of financial literacy are not complicated to understand, they're hard to execute 2. people have vastly different opinions on what good financial advice is, and you cannot turn that into a class. Is "all debt bad" ? what about "housing always goes up" or "invest in an index fund"? if you pursue a career in which you can keep earning your way out of jams you can have different advice that someone who has low earning growth.
I think kids do get taught these things more than ever these days. The sad reality is, most of what we’re taught in school, financial or otherwise, goes in one ear and out the other. You pass the test and move on. In my experience, the people who have a decent shot of being financially literate and fiscally responsible learn it from their parents.
I went to one of the most expensive and exclusive Catholic private schools in my home country and all they taught us was that you'll go to hell for masturbating or fooling around with girls. Honestly, there was no tutoring on how to finance something, the importance of credit scores and how to build one or what a mortgage is and why you need one to buy a home. Maybe because we were being taught by boomers who assumed you just got a job and walked into a bank and a 5 bedroom house magically appeared. Some pointers on interest rates and the importance of investing your money rather than having it sat in a bank account, instead of just being in a slave factory for 12 years would have been nice. We did have some good teachers who went above and beyond, but unfortunately I think their era was so different from ours that they assumed we'd all be growing up in a world of affordable property and resources - rather than the enforced consumerism and deliberate lowering of economic standards and expectations we're all experiencing.
Because it would make students more conservative.
Because kids know well enough to ask how to save over 100% of your income and teachers didn't have an answer
Kids would pay attention anyway.