Related Link » Working Financial Literacy in With the Three R’sEven The Gray Lady gets it right on occasion (no, I'm not referring to Ms. Siegel Bernard). I have been lamenting the lack of personal-finance education for years.
“Most Americans aren’t fluent in the language of money. Yet we’re expected to make big financial decisions as early as our teens — Should I take on thousands of dollars of student debt? Should I buy a car? — even though most of us received no formal instruction on financial matters until it was too late. While no course in personal finance could have prevented many Americans from getting caught up in the housing bubble, it’s clear that most of us need some help, preferably starting when we’re still in school. And I’m not just talking about learning to balance your checkbook. It’s understanding concepts like the time value of money, risk and reward, and, yes, the importance of savings.”
— By Tara Siegel Bernard, Published: April 9, 2010 (NYT)
As a public service, herewith is my short course:
- Your Life and Your Money
- Your Life:
- School
- K - 12 — Necessary, but in most cases not sufficient.
- Trade School; Junior College; or College — Sufficient in many cases.
- Graduate School — Necessary for some professional careers.
- Work
- Strive to become expert at what you do.
- Strive to maintain your necessary skill set.
- Strive to expand your skill set.
- Retirement
- Enjoy a healthy diet (not on the couch).
- Exercise mind and body (read; write; play; get off the couch).
- Give back to society by mentoring younger generations (not from the couch).
- Your Money:
- School
- K - 12 — Mom and Dad, and the government.
- Trade School; Junior College; or College — Beg; borrow; and/or menial labor.
- Graduate School — Beg; borrow; and/or semi-menial labor.
- Work
- Feed, clothe, shelter, and refresh self and family.
- Pay off your debts.
- Save and invest for your retirement. Try to take care of next generation's future needs.
- Retirement
- Social Security (yeah; right).
- Your prudently invested savings.
- Pension (yeah; right)
Hello!
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Thanks for the kind words, Reynaldo. But I am now retired, and I am not interested in making money with my blog. My blogging is one way in which I exercise my mind, as well as try to give back to society.
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I taught a GED math prep course for adults at my local literacy center for several years. When we discussed simple and compound interest, I began the series with a simple icebreaker question: If you buy a $250,000 house with 10% down and a 30-year 5% mortgage, how much will you have paid for that house if you carry the mortgage to the full term?
The average answer was less than $300,000.
The icebreaker question about credit card debt was even more depressing.