Financial Education Is Finally in Schools: The Hard Part Is Just Beginning.

What I Knew About Money

I know, I know. What are a bunch of kids going to do with a 401(k), savings, and an early start, right? Growing up in the '90s, I went to school and used my lunch money to buy French fries, a small compact pizza, and a small carton of milk. Pizza was and is my favorite junk food, so I looked forward to those all the time. That was all I knew about money. It’s used to trade for goods or services. I was clueless about investing principles, savings, and budget. All I knew about budgeting was that if I saved a dollar from yesterday, I could add chili to my French fries.

Growing Up Without a Financial Plan

Growing up, I had a few people in my circle that’s considered friends. I remember walking down the halls to go to class, sometimes in the mood and sometimes not so much in the mood to listen to the teacher talk. I didn't know what I wanted to do after graduation, if you ask me. All I knew was that I had a scholarship. I wasn't a genius or anything, but I graduated with grades high enough to get a scholarship. So, there I was, having graduated from the school of film arts, still clueless about anything to do with finance.

College, Work, and Delayed Plans

During college, I worked part-time at a retail store. As a kid straight out of high school, I spent what I made. I knew deep in my heart that I needed to save for a rainy day or something. After graduating college, I originally wanted to go to grad school. But after speaking to my counselor, he told me to take a break. So, I said yes. I didn't go to grad school the following year.

More Than a Decade Later

And more than a decade later, I still haven't gone to graduate school. I wanted to earn a master's degree or an MFA to be able to teach one day. With my plans put on hold, I opted to work a 9-to-5 job, as people would say. However, I totally forgot about saving. I spent and spent, just living day to day with no plan in hand.

Discovering the Stock Market

Then it dawned on me. What if I invested in the stock market?

Well, that was a mess. Even though I'd eventually get better, it took me many years of stress and tears to finally understand what I was doing. Basically, I was a jogger with no sense of direction. Looking back on it—not that I'm blameless—elementary school, junior high school, high school, and even college don't teach you how to prepare for life ahead. School doesn't teach you how to renew your driver's license if you move out of state. School doesn't teach you about inflation, and it doesn't teach you about the cost of medical insurance. It doesn't even teach you financial mathematics. Sure, there may be classes in business, finance, etc., but ultimately, the system fails because it only teaches saving more, making better credit decisions, and avoiding predatory loans.

The Limits of Financial Literacy Education

As of this moment, 30 states have mandated a standalone finance course for high school graduation; however, there's no standard that defines "financial literacy." 9 of those states require only financial topics to be interwoven into existing courses like economics and mathematics. There are still 11 states with no requirement whatsoever. There's no standard curriculum, and the main lessons differ from school to school. For example, some may teach budgeting, while others may focus on savings. The main hurdle is finding teachers who are qualified to teach courses of this magnitude.

Giving Future Generations a Head Start

While this article will probably be ignored, I do hope that future generations will have the privilege of getting a head start that my peers and I never had. If I were designing a course curriculum, it would be something like this:

The curriculum should be divided into parts over a span of four years.

Freshman Year: Budgeting and Investing

This course would focus on paper trading and learning how to open an account with a brokerage firm upon reaching the legal age to do so. This is meant to prevent what happened to me: learning can be an expensive experience, and if you start trading without having some sort of clue, you can stifle years of progress.

The course should also emphasize this: invest only what you can afford to lose.

Sophomore Year: Understanding Risk

This course would cover various forms of investment, such as real estate, junk bonds, derivatives, options, ETFs, IRAs, 401(k)s, etc., as well as the types of taxes a person might have to pay in certain situations, such as short-term and long-term holdings.

Junior Year: Preparing for Adult Expenses

This course would focus on the various types of bills a typical adult pay. It should focus on planning. Do I need a roommate to cover the typical expenses? How do I apply for a driver's license? How do I apply for an apartment? How do I apply for food stamps? How would my situation change if I got married? How much do I need to earn each year to be independent, considering inflation and the adjusted cost of living by the time I graduate? Typical questions, real answers.

This course doesn't need an expert. It's one course that practically every teacher would be qualified to teach, as they already live it.

Senior Year: Entrepreneurship

This course should be optional for those who are curious about how to start a business. While it would require a qualified businessperson to teach it, it may be the hardest course to get approved. Only a business owner would be qualified to teach this course. I don't know about you, but I don't think there are an abundance of teachers who could teach this course.