Personal Finance in High School

[dczech09]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get everyone's opinion on this one topic. Do you think personal finance should be taught in high schools? Personally, I feel that this is an obvious "yes." I mean we teach kids underwater basket weaving, but we don't teach how to manage money properly?

I have read many different articles, many with opposing view points. Some think that schools are too boggled down with curriculum already and others feel that parents should teach it at home. Honestly I cannot think of any reasons why it shouldnt be taught in high schools, but what do you think? I think this is defintely a discussion that is long overdue.

[disneysteve]

Parents can't teach it at home because most of them are clueless themselves.

I think personal finance and money management needs to be taught at all grade levels in an age-appropriate manner. I'd much rather have kids learning how to handle money than learning how to solve quadratic equations. Which skill will be more useful in life?

In elementary school, they do teach about money as part of arithmetic. Two nickels equals one dime, five pennies equals one nickel, etc. But that's where it ends. They don't learn anything about where money comes from, how we get it and why we need to take good care of it. By middle school, kids can certainly understand some deeper concepts like saving and investing. And by high school, debt and a bigger global view of economic principles should be part of the curriculum. It doesn't have to be in place of something else. It should be incorporated into the program. Economics has so much to do with social studies, civics, history, etc.

So yes, it should definitely be taught but not just in high school.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by dczech09

I have read many different articles, many with opposing view points. Some think that schools are too boggled down with curriculum already...

Yes. Because it has been so useful in everyday life to read and write a report on Beowulf. It truly impacts my every day at work.

Money is just something to discuss at dinner parties, and money clubs.[/sarcasm]


The problem with schools being too bogged down with curriculum is missing the point. They are bogged down with useless curriculum. Learning about debt, investments, and cash management would be useful curriculum.

Instead, maybe the school should teach personal finance, and let parents teach Romeo & Juliet at home.

But then, schools also don't have classes on goal setting and prioritization either, so maybe the school admins don't properly know how to prioritize the curriculum.

[Frugal]

Yes, I strongly believe that personal finance should be taught in high schools. They taught me to balance a checkbook, but not much else. Back then, schools actually had home economics classes, which I highly recommend for their sheer practicality.

[krantcents]

I taught a personal finance class in high school in California. I developed the curriculum because I believe in it. Many of my students were just placed in the class and were not that interested. I taught this class at a Title 1 (low socio-economic) high school. By the end of the class, they all told me they benefited from the class. I do a semester end evaluation of the course material. The class would be much more effective if theit parents would reinforce the material.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by krantcents

The class would be much more effective if theit parents would reinforce the material.

ANY class would be much more effective if their parents would reinforce the material.


Seems like the class (edit: and by that I mean the people in the class) you taught stands to benefit the most from your material. Good work

[Lori63]

It is mandatory for graduation now at my son's school, which I think is great.

[maat55]

Unfortunately, you can lead a horse to water.....

IMO, personal finance is less about knowledge and more about habits and behavoir. Which philosophy would they teach? It is far more important to teach people patience and frugality as it is to teach them financial fundamentals.

Getting both fundamentals and behavoirs across to people takes more than a highschool course, it is a lifestyle promotion which usually comes with resistence.

While I am all for financial education, it needs to be promoted early and by popular peers outside the classroom.

[Shewillbemine]

I'm all for this type of class, especially since I work with plenty of high schools.

The sad fact is that many American teenagers have little to no idea about some of the basics re: personal finance, especially if you are talking about low, socioeconomic people.

I've actually done a few of these and here are some of the main speaking points I've found to be eye-opening for high school students:

a. Credit/FICO score
b. Stock market basics
c. Real estate basics
d. The truth about credit cards and their usage
e. Common financial errors for young people (e.g. buying your first car and going into debt for it)
f. 401ks, IRA, Roth IRAs, Savings Accounts, Checking Accounts

[Nightfly]

A personal finance class at any school would be better than none at all. As for the habits and values part of the equation: ideally, that would come from the home - which is where all values and habits come from, anyway. That is to say: schools can't teach everything to our kids, but at least the ones who get a decent foundation in financial (and non-financial) matters at home will better absorb the material taught in school. Maybe those kids will have habits that rub off on the ones who don't have the same habits.

[Kelli-Saving Money]

Absolutely it should be taught in high schools and I am proud to say our city is now requiring

[maat55]

IMO, personal finance should be the most important class. The way people manage their money has more influence in society than any other subject.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but imo, the government wants the populous dumbed down concerning money. A financial savy society would never allow much of the nonsense happening in government.

[dczech09]

Originally Posted by maat55

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but imo, the government wants the populous dumbed down concerning money. A financial savy society would never allow much of the nonsense happening in government.

I couldn't agree with you more. And we cannot look at one side of the aisle. There are politicians on both sides who want a dumbed down society. Some in the financial services industry would like this too.

To most people, money, finance, and economics are confusing topics that are difficult to understand. But the fact of the matter is that personal finance is not that difficult to understand. Yes, there are legalities and conceptual stuff that people need to learn- but aside from that, personal finance is much more about behavior as most of us on this forum know.

[josetann]

Yes, I think they should at LEAST teach the basics. But...we can't assume they will. So teach your kids at home. Our five year old has a decent age-appropriate understanding of money. He knows his mom has to go to work to make money; no money = no house, food, allowance, etc. He knows that he can buy anything he wants IF he has the money for it. He kinda understands about saving money...in that the money slowly builds, and eventually he can buy that cool robot dinosaur he wants (and he can buy that cool robot dinosaur toy even sooner if he buys a used one on ebay). And it took nearly two years, but he had $50 saved up in the donate category, and decided to donate it to his class. I honestly thought he wouldn't fully grasp that concept, but he had no problem whatsoever. Once he's older, we'll involve him even more (such as showing him our budget, how much is coming in, where money is being spent and why, etc.).

Heh, I still remember conversations my dad tried to have with me about finances. Luckily I didn't buy into whole life insurance like he tried to push. And not once did anyone show me anything actually USEFUL about finance. Had to learn it all myself.