Here’s Curriculum We Can All Agree On

Growing up my father used to have a perfect response when I asked for something financially unattainable, such as buying the family a Rolls Royce or a summer house in The Hamptons. He would shrug his shoulders and say, “sure I’ll buy you two of them.”

That usually spelled the end of any further discussions.

Back then, we were taught basic math skills at the elementary and secondary levels, but no course ever approached the basics of what we now commonly refer to as financial literacy.  I’ll admit I had little or no clue about money at the time and I’m sure that among my peer group I was not alone.

Sadly, some 50 or so years later, financial literacy in our education systems often remains an elective – if offered at all - and not a requirement. While the country is busy arguing about nebulous curricula like race-based theory, the education system in general labors under the false assumption that monetary education will come over time.

Fact: it does not. Rarely has and rarely will. In fact, according to an S&P survey, 3.5 billion people across the globe or 33 percent of the world’s population remain financially illiterate.

Want proof closer to home?

Not long ago, a good friend of mine recounted a story of his oldest son – a graduate of a well-respected college in the Northeast – who approached him and asked if the W-2 form he received from his employer was important.

Think about that for a moment. He was unsure about the necessity of one of the cornerstones of basic tax preparation. And he graduated with honors!

Another friend revealed that his son became embroiled in an online bogus get rich quick Ponzi scheme and was now carrying a debt burden in five figures. Or more accurately his father was.

The two above vignettes should never happen. Ever.

The truth is younger generations need a deeper understanding of money and how it works. The scenarios illustrate in shocking fashion what a lack of knowledge in this area can lead to and it’s never anything good.

But a deeper drill down shows that being financially illiterate can also lead to unbridled spending (particularly with all those newly issued credit cards that seem to mysteriously appear in the mailboxes of young graduates) and hence a mountain of debt at an early age, an inability to map out a workable budget, a poor credit rating and a lack of understanding on how to invest for the future.

And let us not even approach the $1.6 trillion in current outstanding student loans. That’s fodder for a future column.

Those who never received any formal education about financial matters at an early age almost always wind up as irresponsible adults in money matters.

And too often, that’s the bottom line.