Comments on: 90% of People Believe Personal Finance Should be Taught in School

By: Brian Carr

Brian Carr — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:36:08 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Summer. I completely agree that we’re a consumption-based, money hungry society and it would be really nice if we could pass on frugal traits – being happy with what you have, not being defined by money, etc. – on to our kids!

By: Brian Carr

Brian Carr — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:35:05 +0000

Thanks for the comment. I think your idea of starting small and covering the basics at a young age is great and I wish more people would do that. Sadly, I think a lot of people don’t teach their kids about personal finance because they really don’t know much about it themselves.

By: Summer

Summer — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:31:53 +0000

It would be great to see children be exposed to something besides consumerism. Our society is too focused on money. Learning how to take care of yourself and the world around you is definitely a great skill. But it is something learned, not taught. And it doesn’t necessarily require money in order to accomplish that goal. It also can incorporate learning how to grow your own food, repair your own car, use environmentally friendly practices, cooperation with other members of your neighborhood and society. The more we move AWAY from consumerism for our children, the less of a problem they will have with money. And the better off our society will be.

By: J. Is a Bird

J. Is a Bird — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:26:58 +0000

I do this at home now with my 5 and 3 year old. That said, I’m a bookkeeper and everyday I see my clients kid’s that don’t understand thing one about money management.

I do small things w/my kids. How much does your pizza cost? How much money did I give you? How much did you get back in change? Oh, you want water now, how much is it, do you have enough change to buy it? Small concepts now that I can expand on as they get older.

By: Brian Carr

Brian Carr — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Ben – thank you so much for the comment, and I absolutely agree with you. I graduated college as a finance major, and all the way through school, the personal finance stuff came either from my parents, life experience, or me making the effort to learn stuff on my own.

You think people would have signed up for crazy balloon mortgage if they knew more about money? (Well, maybe, but not because of ignorance, rather, because they were being greedy).

Thanks again!

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:35:11 +0000

I completely agree myself being a recent graduate of college it is astounding how few people really understand what is going on in terms of finance. I started investing my sophmore year of my undergrad, and I now find it apalling that my peers only know relevant facts about MTV shows or American Idol, but no idea of how to prepare for their future.

By: Accurise

Accurise — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:35:22 +0000

Financial responsibility is founded on a solid credit score, which is initiated with your first credit line. Most people start using their first credit card without the knowledge that a credit line ties their purchases, payment history, etc to their name. Hence, the importance of teaching adolescents the importance of what good credit means. Timely payments, financial responsibility and personal finance management should all be de-mystified so that by the time these kids do start their credit lines, they can spend responsibly.

By: Jameel

Jameel — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:12:34 +0000

Many parents don’t know anything about on-line banking, automatic deduction, debit cards. No one teaches how to stay organized so bills get paid. Don’t put this on the parents. When I teach kids, the teachers and parents are in the back asking all the questions.

By: saurabh kanwar

saurabh kanwar — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:45:00 +0000

Most of us spend major part of our lives in earning money and most of us are successful in accomplishing this objective. But quite often we do goof up with money related issues and keep scratching out head at the month end.

This is where the money management comes. We should inculcate this habit right from the school days as this will help the kids to deal with the money issues more effectively.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:57:30 +0000

It once was possible to be poor and free, but this is no longer true. In order to be free and independent in the United States, you need to be financially independent, and in order to be financially independent, it’s ideal to have some training.

A few finance classes would be infinitely more useful than like calculus for most folks. Calculus teaches you to do more calculus, usually for some kind of manager someplace, where finance would teach you some independent thinking.

I actually agree with claudio’s post from last year — it’s more true than ever – that if you don’t learn to manage your finances, some sort of manager will, and as evidenced by the financial collapse, you can’t trust managers to manage your money (or your time).

The best approach: teach kids some self-sufficiency.