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Do you think personal financial management should be a required subject in high school?

Asked by optimisticpessimist (3909points) March 24th, 2011

I see this from two different perspectives. 1) I have two high school students and see what classes they have to and can take to graduate. Basic personal financial management seems to be a subject that is missing but is relevant to everybody. I would rather my kids be required to take personal financial management than trigonometry. 2) I have been a financial counselor for people with a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds whose primary age being between 19 and 25. At least 75% did not have a bank account of any kind until they left home, understood how a debit card worked but did not track spending (they would just assume the bank statement was correct), they were too confused (initially) about retirement savings to invest in anything, and did not understand the impact of credit or credit score. The 25% who were well-versed in at least basic personal financial management were either taught by their parents or sought out information after making financial mistakes.

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