Should Financial Literacy Be Taught In Schools

Financial decisions are something everyone faces like buying a car to figuring out how to pay for students loans or debts. We are not taught about these types of financial decisions and how to go about them from a young age. In the news article Working Financial Literacy in With the Three R’s by Tara Siegel Bernard, she talks about how more states are beginning to require a personal finance instructions class. In the article Finance Course Prompts Debate by Gina Davis, she suggests incorporating financial elements into already required classes.

So often we hear about teaching the whole child. Today, more than ever, personal finance knowledge and awareness are a critical part of what it means to teach the whole child.

In this society, some of the most important things in your life have to deal with money. In Chad Foster’s book, Financial Literacy for Teens, he taught his readers how to save, spend, invest and give away your money. Reading this book has taught me to start saving when I’m young, know the differences of what I need to buy rather than what I want, to make money while I sleep and giving away some of your money will not only help yourself, but help many others as well.

I believe that the water from the Colorado River should be divided fairly amongst the states. The first part of my plan would be to figure out how many people live in each state. By doing this you can let the states with more people get more water. Next, I think we should take into account which areas need it most. For example, Yuma needs the water for farming, which is a large part of their economy. The final thing that Should be considered is the 1922 Colorado River pact. I believe this is important because it was created in case something like this ever happened, and the states had agreed to it, therefore it would not be fair unless we took it into consideration. If we follow all these steps it may help us fairly divide up the water from

these courses are being used to educated students about financial literacy to better prepare them for the future. As stated in the article “Financial Education Leaving Americans Behind” by Greg Burns, “Utah, Missouri and Tennessee require students to take a semester-long personal-finance class before graduating from high school…” While many people find these courses to be helpful others are against this idea. In the article it states “ Trouble is, growing evidence suggests that financial-literacy courses don’t work. Worse, they may actually hurt, in part by making their graduates overconfident about limited skills”. On the other hand supporters point to the fact that people who were not required to take a financial course are not aware of how to take care of their finances. Which is concerning and is a great example as to why schools districts should input these economic courses into their

As the years go on, more and more states require their students to complete a personal finance or financial literacy course. For example, in the state of Tennessee it is required that all students must take a half credit, or one semester, of personal finance to graduate high school. However, some people may ask themselves, do required financial literacy classes actually help students? The answer is yes, required personal finance and financial literacy classes do help students and young adults in their futures as they graduate high school or college, and they should be mandatory across the U.S. Requiring students to take a personal finance course does help students make better financial decisions later in their lives.

Financial literacy is not part of the American education system. When I was in high school, nobody taught me how to plan for retirement, nor did they teach me how to file my taxes, and they sure didn’t teach me the importance of money management.

Future initiatives with financial education can change the landscape of an individual’s life and the economy in which we live. If there is limited focus on learning about personal finances we continue to set our economy up for constant failure. There is a substantial amounts of education provided to school age children that does not directly impact their financial education for their future. In high school individuals learn

Even with these changes some may still doubt why these classes are important, but here are a few statistics about the financial literacy of today’s adults. According to Caitlin Blake of Concordia University, “Only 39% of adults make budgets and track their spending.” and “32% of adults do not save a portion of their annual income.” (Blake) These statistics show that a growing number of adults either don’t use, or haven’t acquired the skills needed to be financially wise. Even with these numbers still being a minority at the moment, a possible outcome in the future could be a majority of adults struggling to manage personal finances. Though many schools still do offer courses to teach these types of skills, many do not require them past middle school. With these classes still being electives, they are still highly susceptible to being eliminated from schools course offerings and, students opting not to take them. Now off the topic of financial literally or; therefore, the lack of, we now move on the topic of

The context of the lesson is three fold: First, to enhance literacy and utilize digital tools to research, communicate, produce and present. Developing these skills will be of immediate use, as these students have at least two more years in an academic setting. Secondly, they will be acquiring life skills as they define and internalize the concepts of budgeting and personal finance. Thirdly, in the broadest context, they will be able to apply this knowledge when they go forth into the job market and begin making short and long term investments. This lesson is appropriate and timely for these students as they will soon be leaving high school and embarking on various life and career paths. It is of critical importance that they understand how credit works and how to be fiscally responsible early on, so that they can avoid making bad decisions that have long-term and life altering ramifications. This demonstrates my commitment to their lifelong ability to learn and use information

Many believe that financial literacy classes are helpful and a good tool for you in the future. Finance is a waste of time and the classes do not help you in any case. The material taught in these classes are not used in everyday life and the methods used in the class are not helpful in any way.

A little over a decade ago, Ms. Lamb realized that there was an enormous void in children’s financial education--it was this that began her lifelong mission. She feels that without proper financial learning, the young people of our society will grow up in a world of naïveté, thus causing them to fall victim to financial scams. Additionally, without this education, emotional health, quality of life, and college and career attainment levels can be negatively affected. Consequently, Sabrina Lamb created the World of Money to fulfill her life mission of exposing

Although the reliance on student loans continues to increase for college students across the nation, the vast majority of American teenagers are not required to attend and complete a Financial Literacy course before graduating high school. According to Jillian Berman, only five states scored an A on the 2015 Report Card on State Efforts to Improve Financial Literacy in High Schools, and those same five states are the only states in the country that require students to take a dedicated semester of personal finance courses before graduating (Marketwatch.com). There is an obvious problem with the state efforts to properly educate finances when 14 out of 50 states rank in at a failing grade. Money is an essential asset to life on Earth, and proper education on financial management is vital for the basic requirements to sustain life. Education on how to manage money in order to afford food, shelter, clothing should be the main priority of the Financial Literacy courses. More in-depth are topics

Financial literacy courses are a façade designed to sweep problems under the rug in order to project false images of the American dream. To reiterate: it doesn’t work. In a study from Harvard Business

This statement is rather shocking but proves why high school students should be taught financial literacy. Financial literacy is the ability of learning how to manage money. Financial literacy should be taught because, more people have been going bankrupt at a younger age, they have more debt options, and lastly are unable to manage money because they have never been taught. This is not just a problem for an individual, but potentially a huge problem in this country’s future.