Are personal finances taught in school?

[Radiance]

My little one is on preschool and I didnt go to school in the US, so I really don't know.
I think it should be tought as a regular class.

[arthurb999]

nope...

[Broken Arrow]

Not when I was in school (K through 12).

My kids are though, thankfully. However, they go over very rudimentary stuff, like how to open a bank account, how to write a check....

[Radiance]

Can we make it happen or education is like written in stone?
I am ok with leaving that up to the parents but I think it would be so beneficial to the country as a whole if this is incorporated on the education.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Math problems are often presented using pretend purchasing, financing, and investing problems. I think a lot of kids somehow don't connect that what they have learned in math class applies in their very own life, too.

I often hear of school running fantasy investment clubs or doing fantasy stock markets as part of classes.

Home ec (home economics) used to teach a lot about ordinary day to day finances, budgeting, and frugality. Home ec is not very popular any more, I think.

I'm older but in my high schools days, I remember a class in senior year where one of the exercises was to plan a household budget based on what we thought we reasonably would earn a year outside of high school with a spouse and one child! I do remember that so many students seemed to be basing their budget on their wild imagination of what they would earn....I on the other hand was at a pessimistic point in my life as I was already poor, so I did my budget base on the idea that I'd be far worse off than my parents. I even decided with my pretend budget to imagine that the only provision I could make for a home was an old, one room, broken down travel trailer that we rented! Ha-ha.

I also had an economics class in HS. One semester of it was called "world economics." It was a very broad but very shallow treatment. The other semester I think was called "personal economics." It covered a lot of things we talk about in this forum, but again, in a too broad, too shallow manner. The whole class was very easy. To tell the truth, I resented having to take that class. I thought my time could have been better spent. It all seemed so obvious to me, but maybe I was the peculiar kid to have already paid attention to such things.

Schools can help, but as often the case, parents who care to educate their kids about personal finances are probably a much bigger influence. If you want your kid to learn what you have learned, you are probably naturally going to start teaching him very early.

[maat55]

You would think that one of the most important aspects of life would be reviewed or taught in school.

I've come to believe that the government does not want an financially educated public.

[minnie1928]

I graduated in the early 90's (don't want to date myself exactly ) and we had Economics in our senior year. We were all told to take the newspaper, find a home and a job. This was the basis of our "life" on paper. We got paid every week, paid our mortgage (which we calculated) and our expenses. This class was one of the best classes I had in HS. This class was required in order to graduate. I hope they are still requiring it...

[txex86]

Our daughter is a high school sophomore. The state of Texas requires Macroeconomics to graduate. Personal Finance is only offered as an elective, but it is extremely comprehensive covering topics from rudimentary check writing to investing in the stock market. I think these classes should be reversed with Economics as an elective and Personal Finance a requirement.

Students can always subject themselves to Keynesian theory in college if they so choose.

[PrincessPerky]

You cannot replace what mom and pop should be teaching by making it mandatory in public school, hasn't worked for math, and isn't going to work for finances.

[Radiance]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

You cannot replace what mom and pop should be teaching by making it mandatory in public school, hasn't worked for math, and isn't going to work for finances.

I agree! and in my case it will be just fine.

I am just thinking in the majority of kids from all income levels that could benefit. Of course it should be more hands on and not so much academics.

Imagina a kid that learns about personal finance and brings the message back home!

It is happening in my opion with being environmentally friendly. Kids are asking their parents to recycle and save the planet.

Anywho, just an idea