BY RYAN MERARD
Taxes, insurance, credit scores and paying bills are just some of the many components of personal finance that one will become familiar with as an adult. Not knowing how to properly manage money can damage one’s future.
Many young adults move out of their parents’ house without the knowledge of basic personal finance, such as maintaining a budget, or not knowing the importance of a good credit score which is a serious issue.
Millions of Americans every day are struggling to complete payments or invest in retirement and are using loans to cover major payments, leading to greater debt that progressively gets harder and harder to get out of.
But half of the country teaching their students finance is not enough. The whole country should participate in the use of money management classes in the educational system.
Going into debt is easier than getting out of it. To prevent the youth of today from getting into serious debt problems in the future, business and personal finance classes should be added to the high school curriculum. It could make the major change from childhood into adulthood less stressful and less difficult for many students.
According to Time Money, the average debt for people under the age in America of 35 is $67,400 in 2016 and usually stems from student loans. This shows that many people are facing outstanding debt straight out of college. In order to help decrease the debt of young adults after graduation, high school students should be economically educated through finance classes.
It is not rare to hear students complaining about how school doesn’t teach them necessary life skills. By implementing finance classes in high schools, more students would feel that they are actually getting something valuable by going to school. Taking economic classes would greatly benefit students in the years to come, making them more likely to be successful and live better lives.
According to a 2018 study by the Council for Economic Education, 22 states require students to take a class in economics and 17 states require schools to offer students a class about personal finance. But half of the country teaching their students finance is not enough. The whole country should participate in the use of money management classes in the educational system.
Florida is one of the 17 states that require schools to offer a personal finance class to students. At CCHS, DECA business classes involve personal finance, teaching students how to make budgets, how to do taxes, pay bills and more. However, to give students a foundation for financial stability in the future, all schools throughout the nation should have these finance classes.
Being economically educated is critical in order to live a comfortable and debt-free life. If the youth are not taught how to properly manage their money, it could lead to many young adults being in severe debt straight out of college.
If the goal of school is to prepare children for the future, then why are schools not taking the important skill of money management more seriously? To meet the standards of fair education, economic and financial classes should be introduced throughout America.
In a 2012 study by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), 24 percent of young adults showed basic financial knowledge. This low number shows that even the basics of the economy are not being stressed in school.
One would believe that children should not have to be involved with economics during their adolescent years, and that it’s only an adult’s responsibility to worry about money. Yet, this is far from the truth. Learning how to budget and invest money is a crucial skill needed to survive in this world. Instead of waiting until all of the debt and bills start stacking, people should learn how to manage their money early to prevent future troubles.
Almost anything one does requires money in some way. Being economically educated is critical in order to live a comfortable and debt-free life. If the youth are not taught how to properly manage their money, it could lead to many young adults being in severe debt straight out of college. Everyone has to learn how to properly manage their money sometime in their life, so why not teach people while they are young?
Photo by Cassie Hartmann
