The biggest thing I love about being involved in the personal finance community is hearing stories of celebration and freedom from debt. Some people are in their 20s when they take control of their finances and some are in their 50s. But either way, both are celebrating some amazing accomplishments!
I find it interesting that people of all ages usually finish sharing their financial accomplishment with expressing “why wasn’t I taught this in high school?” And I really do wonder about this…
In high school I learned that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. And I have not done anything at all related to mitochondria since graduating. But somehow, I never learned how to make a budget, the dangers of debt, the importance of investing, and other basic personal finance concepts.
Survey Results
I recently came across an article from U.S. Money about a survey they took of college students. The survey asked about the amount of financial education that students received from parents and educators. And the results showed that 44% of those surveyed received no financial education at all.
I found the results of this survey to be very astounding, yet super believable. I mean, I didn’t receive any financial education in high school!
For Parents
If you are a parent, I can’t stress enough the importance of teaching your kids how to handle money. This doesn’t need to be a difficult task. In fact, your kids will probably learn a lot about money by the way you interact with it. So are you paying off debt? Saving for the future? Giving? Making payments on time? You’d be surprised to see how much your kids are paying attention.
Another way you can teach your kids about money is being honest with them about it. Some parents don’t like to worry their kids about money. And rightfully so! But there is something to be said about teaching them about how money works, or that things cost money. Sharing with them concepts like you go to work to make money to therefore spend money are concepts that kids of most ages are able to comprehend.
And lastly, put it to practice! Giving your kids “commission” (money for when they do jobs around the house) will teach them how to handle money from a young age. From there, you can teach them how they always give some, save some, and spend some.
When your kids become high school age, it’s important to start teaching them more financial concepts. Things like debit and credit cards, student loans (as they look toward college) and budgeting their money from their first high school job!
Parents, you have a wonderful role in your child’s life to teach them about money. This could seriously change their future!
For Teachers
I wish that it would be a requirement for all high school graduates to take a class in personal finance. But I’m not so sure that it’s that easy. So in addition to parents teaching their kids about personal finance, it’s also important that teachers teach about personal finance as well. Teachers are so easily able to influence their students, which presents an awesome opportunity for our educators!
And you don’t need to be a finance teacher to teach students about personal finance! When I was in high school, I actually clearly remember my choir teacher giving us lots of advice when it comes to personal finance. He taught us a lot about the importance of saving for the future and making smart financial decisions. Even though he was my choir teacher, we learned many valuable financial lessons.
If you are a teacher, I can’t encourage you enough to share some personal finance information with your high school or college students. You never know what might stick with them! Teaching kids about the value lessons of personal finance could honestly change their lives.
It doesn’t need to be anything complicated! Even sharing financial mistakes you made in college may impact a class of seniors. Or mentioning to your students that you are working on paying off your mortgage is enough to get them thinking!
Raising Up The Next Generation
The truth is, maybe we didn’t learn about personal finance in school, but that doesn’t need to be the case for the next generation. So parents, be open and talk to your kids about personal finance! And teachers, share when you can to teach your students about the fundamentals of money. Together, maybe we can encourage the next generation to have a greater financial understanding.