As students throughout high school learn everything from physical education to the Great Gatsby, many leave thinking that they know quite a bit about the real world around them and feeling very confident in themselves. However, many students lack financial literacy, something that is offered by only a few courses in school, and a class that most tend to stray away from, as it is “too adult” or boring. Students leave their homes into the real world without an idea of how taxes work, what a down payment is, or how credit scores affect their future. As these are all problems that most young adults face, it makes absolutely no sense that these subjects are not taught in school. Students spend years in college debt, rack up credit card debt on top of that, and wonder where they went wrong.
Early exposure to the stock market, explanations on tax brackets and credit cards can help the young adult population drastically. Smart financial decisions from a young age would result in a fulfilling middle-age life and an amazing retirement, but many are blind to this opportunity due to lack of exposure.
During the age of the internet, more and more resources are available to the young, aimed on helping them get a head start. Custodial stock accounts can be made, leading to early exposure to the stock market, how it works, and the potential every single dollar has in the market. Competitions like the Wharton Investment Competition pushes students to utilize their knowledge to their advantage, and have fun at the same time. Finance-related YouTubers are also easy to come by, explaining mortgages and credit scores in easy to understand language, and making it entertaining at the same time. People are able to see the potential of financial literacy on the internet, intriguing them and motivating each individual to learn about how to make the most of the dollar in their pocket. Classes teaching, or at least exposing students to such topics, would set them on the right path to a fruitful future.
Many people manage to figure out economics and finance at a much too late time period in their lives, which can be devastating, as it is a deciding factor in most of one’s choices in their lifetime. People undermine the importance of financial literacy, and regret too late that they should have spent more time earlier in their lives to prevent their evident downfall. Classes teaching such courses should be made more available to students, and strongly recommended to all, as money will be a life-affecting feature in everybody’s lives. It should be widespread that the subject will be the most useful in one’s life than any other course, as learning how to use money to breed money will be just as, if not more, beneficial, regardless of personal interest or classes regarding one’s intended major.
