Why Aren’t More Schools Teaching About Money?

 It’s one of the most fundamental skills for people to have, i.e., learning about proper money management. If kids don’t learn it early on, how are they expected to take on a money mindset later in life? When they set out on their own, this is when it will be needed most.

Our society doesn’t do a good job on teaching kids about money. But, when they get to college, we wonder why they get into trouble with credit card debt. First, why are these credit card companies even offering college kids credit cards in the first place? The truth is, they know kids will run up a huge balance and not be able to pay. Parents don’t want to see their kids start out with negative credit, so they end up paying for the kids.

There is a responsibility for parents to teach their kids about money. But, if some parents are not good at money management, how will they be able to teach that to their kids? If the parents are running up high debt, how will that set an example?

Kids also need to learn the proper techniques of portfolio management and how the stock market works as well as other financial vehicles available. This foundation could help the kids make better investing decisions at a time when it is needed. Too many people are under the false belief that young people first starting out can take on more risk. Bear in mind, these same young people make much less money when they first start out. So, taking on those higher risks means it will take much longer for them to recover financially.

Another problem is both teachers and parents are not trained on how to teach about money. It’s a much more complicated subject than it appears on the surface. While teachers could teach the basics of budgeting and why it’s important to stay out of debt, they don’t have the resources to teach them about proper investing or what to do when someone gets in financial hot water, i.e., large consumer debt, etc.

When kids get to college, they often don’t have a clue about money management. This could be a large reason why subjects like their countries’ national debt are low on the priority scale. If they are informed, they may not be as willing to accept the government spending in the manner that it does. If these college kids get into politics themselves, their training could help them in reducing this debt and keep a fiscal order with policies.