Nearly half of high school seniors lack confidence in money matters
Results of a Capital One survey released today found that nearly 45 percent of all high school seniors polled say they are unsure or unprepared to manage their own banking and personal finances. However, of those who have taken a personal finance class — 30 percent of the sample — 75 percent said they feel prepared to manage their finances.
Outside of the classroom, students exposed to financial literacy at home are overwhelmingly more confident with money matters than their peers who do not learn about money in the home. One out of five students, 20 percent, polled say they talk to their parents about money management and personal finance issues “frequently,” while 45 percent said they sometimes ask questions and 34 percent said they never talk to their parents about money, or do so only when necessary. Of those who do so frequently, 71 percent rate themselves as “highly” or “very” knowledgeable about personal finance and 81 percent feel prepared to manage their own finances and banking.
Real word experience, or having a job, also prepares young adults for financial responsibilities, with 81 percent of high school seniors surveyed reporting that they have a bank account and most are saving for the future.
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23 comments Add your comment
Ole Guy
June 18th, 2010
5:33 am
The immediate reaction, I would imagine, is to incorporate money management skills into the school curriula…seems like a good idea…on the surface. However, let’s keep in mind that the 12-year educational pipeline is very limited indeed.
Like many skills, from brick laying to doctoring, money management skills are largely based on mastery of the good ole basics. One would not see a need for classes in, say, bandage application, for the awareness of cleanliness and germ mitigation would be covered in a standard biology course. By the same token, money management, from household applications to advanced accounting principles, are based on number value relationships…basic arithmetic.
Let’s don’t go inventing yet additional coursework in the false notion that we are somehow preparing kids for the future. Ever since the little red schoolhouse, an insistence on the mastery of the basics has worked fine. Let’s not complicate issues more than we have already managed to.
Kat
June 19th, 2010
12:08 am
I agree with Ole Guy above in terms of how difficult it would probably be to incorporate an additional class into the current school curriculum. But, similar to PE, it is crucial in order to best prepare these students for life (especially the student loans in college so they know what that education is REALLY costing them). Two of our biggest problems today are obesity and financial problems. I recall taking a business class in middle school where we were taught how to write out checks, balance a budget, etc. I thought it odd then, but incredibly important today. Similar to a typing class, I can handle a computer keyboard with the best of them. Students must have this knowledge to help them in today’s world and its expectations. Many colleges have an “intro to college 101″ course, which teaches students where to go, what to do, etc. Adding a financial bit to this is ideal. One of the biggest expenses they will ever face (aside from a home) may very well be a college education loan, and information is needed on this BEFORE getting a HS diploma. I took out no college loans, and am eternally grateful. I wish the best of luck to all!
Just reading
June 19th, 2010
4:29 am
Please read about the students at http://www.gcee.org. I am surprised that you didn’t get the news on the Douglass High School students having a National Championship Stock Market Team. Look at the 8th graders from Westminster…someone is teaching Personal Finance somewhere.
Elizabeth
June 19th, 2010
8:42 am
Every time students are lacking in some life skill, the refrain goes up again: Let the schools teach it. As long as we the teachers are held responsible for teachings things that parents should be teaching, education will never improve. We can’t teach everything, people! The whole problem is that we have to spend so much time teaching what parents do not address, there is no time to teach our own curriculum. I know for a fact that money management courses are part of most school math curriculums. But the way to learn to manage money, is to be given money and have to manage it in real life. And that is a parent’s job– not a teacher’s job. I am tired of having to take up the slack for parents who do not do their jobs. Do yours– and let me do mine– which is teaching English to kids who do not care whether they learn it or not. I have enough to do just getting them to learn the basics and pass the stupid standardized tests. I am not your child’s parent!!!
CDog
June 19th, 2010
9:00 am
On the math QCC curriculum that is being phased out, there is a Money Management course. But it is primarily for vocational track students. In the social studies curriculum, there is a Microeconomics course. There is also a Banking and Finance class in the Business Ed curriculum. The courses are there but they are usually electives which most students will opt not to take in place of team sports or being an office aide.
capt. mike
June 19th, 2010
9:20 am
As a parent… By Example…they think I’m a tightwad !! I clip coupons… shop 2 for 1 deals at store…making them order off value menus… kids meals etc… they know I buy used cars for ca$h instead of payments… make them do chores for allowance.. old fashioned disipline.. explaining IRA’s & investing in a balanced asset allocation as they got older…
Mtn. Man
June 19th, 2010
9:45 am
Gotta add to this subject! The fundamental underlying principal that determines learning about asset management is where does income come from? Is it EARNED? Does consistant effort and thoughtful application of skills result in an honorable return, or is “income” just a monthly check away from being broke, regardless of its source?” With some 52 % of employees enjoying mostly permanent public sector jobs,while the other 48 % support their positions,with their tax dollers,the tipping point may have been reached,where no amount of education reverse such a trend! Who needs understanding of a system,that guarantees {virtually] a lifetime of “INCOME!” Mostly on borrowed money! Credit crisis anyone? Troubled, I,m Mtn. Man P.S. Capt. Mike deserves a ‘” MEDAL!.
TeaBag
June 19th, 2010
10:29 am
It’s Bush’s fault
MrLiberty
June 19th, 2010
12:48 pm
If kids understood economics better, they might be able to understand the money thing better. Frankly if everyone understood economics better they would understand how fractional reserve banking is just fraud and theft and that the presence of the Federal Reserve in the economy is destroying all of their savings and is the direct cause of inflation.
go to http://www.mises.org and do some reading. It will be an eye-opening experience, especially in the face of the lies you were taught in school and by the media and politicians.
Kwanza
June 19th, 2010
12:49 pm
Check out Operation Hope’s Banking On Our Future (operationhope.org), and support the cause of financial literacy among our youth. I honestly wish someone in my family had had a serious talk with me about my finances before I went to college. Sign up to be a volunteer or make a contribution!
David S
June 19th, 2010
1:56 pm
The government schools are not there to educate children but to indoctrinate them. They are not going to learn financial independence when the government needs to keep them dependent. If your kids are going to learn anything, it will be up to you to teach them. MrLiberty’s recommendation of mises.org is an excellent one. Awsome site with sound economic teachings, and all the books are free online to read if that is the way you want to go.
The Dogfighter Returns
June 19th, 2010
2:06 pm
What else would you expect from the public warehouses where these people are confined until their parents get home?
That’s ok. these are exactly the type of idiots needed in the current economy based exclusively on loansharking. Give them the credit they need and enslave them for the rest of their lives.
Economics Teacher
June 19th, 2010
2:15 pm
Great article that people have known for a long time… Currently in Georgia you are required to take a course in Economics in order to graduate. As part of the curriculum in the Economics course is a unit of study on personal finance. Many good teachers have learned how to incorporate personal finance throughout the entire semester while teaching concepts on fundamental concepts, supply and demand, business organization, business finance, GDP, taxes, etc… Unfortunately some classes save personal finance until the end of the semester but then run out of time due to taking End-of-Course Test several weeks before the end of a semester (in spring) so that grades can come back in time for graduation.
In addition to this class there are classes offered through the business department on financial literacy etc…
I do agree though that if you want to fix this then it starts in the home.
old teach
June 19th, 2010
3:50 pm
Learning how to manage money is a skill necessary in everyone’s life. Parents should give children increasing amounts of financial responsibility to help them understand the importance of sound fiscal management. Since it’s too easy to swipe a card, cash should be used to start with. Then a checking account, complete with monthly reconciliation, will help. (But one of the biggest influences will be the modeling provided by the parent.)
And now for the school’s role:
Economics Teacher made some good points about that course.
There WAS a personal finance class in the math curriculum at one time, and everyone had to take it. And until the “new math 1-4 curriculum” came around, there was a math money management course available. (Actually, the GHSGT stressed simple interest, discount, better buy, financing, etc until recently.) But in the race to teach every Georgia student advanced math, some things must be left off…
Bill
June 19th, 2010
4:48 pm
Mr. Liberty,
So…before the federal reserve, there was no inflation???
RE: Mises.org. The site says they are “the world center of the Austrian School of economics and libertarian political and social theory”…wait for it now…located in east Alabama.
David S
June 19th, 2010
9:32 pm
Before the Federal Reserve there were two other Banks of the United States. Both engaged in destructive inflationary practices as all central banks do. That is why Jefferson got rid of the first and Andrew Jackson got rid of the second.
Inflation is a monetary phenomenon. It is not about rising prices, but about an increase in the money supply. Yes, prices rise as a result, but the cause of the problems and the true definition is an increase in the money supply. After the demise of the 2nd Bank and before the creation of the Fed, money was either gold or backed by gold. There were some inflationary periods, mostly when banks engaged in the fraud of fractional reserve banking (what every bank does today with government and Fed blessing), but the periods were mild and self-correcting.
The difference with the Fed is that, especially today (and since Nixon closed the gold window in 1970) there is no limit on the amount of paper money the central bank (Fed) can print. At least when there was some tie to gold, there was the limit imposed by note holders when they would demand payment in specie (gold). Now with none, the printing goes on literally 24/7 as fast as the government can print.
The Fed is a problem for several reasons. The first is the fact that they set interest rates. This is the equivalent of government price fixing. Interest rates must be set by the free market in response to the amount of savings and the demand for money (also risk). Government lowering of rates is what caused the bubble in ‘29 and every bubble/recession we have seen since its creation in 1913.
As for the location of the Mises Institue in Alabama, what’s your point? Are intellectuals with a clue only allowed to inhabit NYC or D.C.? Yes, clearly people with lifelong teaching experience and education in economics become blithering idiots when they enter the state of Alabama. Maybe you should read beyond the address and see if the content is worthy before showing your patronizing ignorance. Or does the possibility of learning something that conflicts with everything the mainstream media, the banking monopoly, and the government is telling you scare you too much?
David S
June 19th, 2010
9:58 pm
Let’s have everyone go to an easy link to see just how bad the presence of the Federal Reserve has been for this country.
http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html
Put in $100 and a few pairs of dates. First, 1789 and 1913. The ratification of the constitution (which said that all money will be gold or silver) and the founding of the Fed. The result, the same items you could buy for $100 at the founding of the country would cost roughly $208 124 years later. Yes, some inflation (well, over 100% inflation. Let’s not forget, we had the first central bank and the second. Now look at 1913 to 1971 (the year Nixon took us fully off the gold standard. We see $400. Only 58 years! In not even half as long as it took to cut the value of the dollar in half, it is cut by another 75%! Now look at 1913 to 2010. Now we see $2200! The dollar we started with at the founding of the Fed is now worth less than 5 cents! In less than 100 years the Federal Reserve and its inflation of the money supply has nearly wiped out the value of the dollar.
And let’s not forget the massive amount of money they have been pouring into the economy since 2008. They have nearly doubled the money supply again. It is only the massive reserves that banks are holding and not lending that is keeping our country from looking like the Weimar Republic in Germany of the 20’s or most recently Zimbawe with its 100 trillion dollar notes (worth about $3.00 US).
Kat
June 19th, 2010
10:16 pm
Elizabeth (etc): I presume your comments are in response to my original post, so I’m responding back. I’m not saying to put it all on the teachers. There is a certain element of logic involved in the natural progression of classes that are already in place and what could be added to the curriculum. If PE isn’t taught in schools, then parents would do it. If finances aren’t taught, then parents would do it. Education is to allow for a well-rounded individual, which means a lot of different areas. I think it makes sense to add it, but as with all areas of education, I am not saying (nor did I say) that ALL responsibility should be in the hands of the teachers. I teach my children proper English, correct health habits, history, geography, art, etc. The teachers DO NOT do it all – though they may feel as though they do, and truly do for some children in the system.
David S
June 19th, 2010
10:27 pm
Send your friends to the inflation counter site and encourage them to find out for themselves what the criminal behavior of the Federal Reserve and the banking system have done to our savings, our country, and our future.
Georgia Pete
June 20th, 2010
1:14 am
Is this at all surprising? My bet is that those that are “financially illiterate” are just plain illiterate…period. I never needed a personal finance class. Parents taught you those skills. You also were taught mathematics in school. Thats right. IT’s called math. If you ain’t got it, you don’t spend it. And just cause you got it now doesn’t mean you’ll have it in the future. That’s called savings. Actually, it’s called just plain common sense. And you can’t teach common sense. It’s the one thing that separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. And those who can’t figure it out are just plain losers.
Kat
June 20th, 2010
3:28 am
Georgia Pete: Amen!
TnGelding
June 20th, 2010
5:52 am
…and so do their parents! They’re failing their children as are the public schools. But hey, the administrators and teachers are getting good pay and great benefits. And let’s build another $50 million school bulding to sit idle 80% of the time and cost millions more to operate and maintain.
Bitter EX democrackkk
June 20th, 2010
6:19 am
The lieberal educational agenda does not WANT to teach financial information to the students, choosing to keep them dumbed down in favor of government program dependence.
Get YOUR children OUT of government screwls as fast as you can!