Why don't we teach our children to be financially literate, at school? We teach them a whole bunch of unecessary stuff and then they go out there, start working and lose a whole bunch of money until they find out how to keep track of it. I know that because I'm one of them. :p :D

So... whassup with our educational system...? :bugeye:

So... whassup with our educational system...? :bugeye:
By "our" you mean american?
I don´t know about that but I have heart that majority of european schools teach it at some level, usually incorporated into other subjects.
It may be that corporations like McDonald or Coca-Cola would othwerwise loose profit, therefore they have bribed your ministry of education ;)

By "our" you mean american?
Mankind


I don´t know about that but I have heart that majority of european schools teach it at some level, usually incorporated into other subjects.
It may be that corporations like McDonald or Coca-Cola would othwerwise loose profit, therefore they have bribed your ministry of education ;)
Good for Europe. :D

I believe this is a fine thread; I am 25 years old going through quarter life crisis (euphemism for no direction) and my financial lifeline is nose-diving deeper than President W. Bush’s approval ratings. The parents of most people my age had parents that lived through the 1920's depression so they were deprived; they knew nothing else but deprivation- no x-box and no toys. Parents try to make sure their own kids are never deprived, plus you have to remember that these same parents are the baby boomers (the generation that had everything). This is the reason why parents today will buy their kids that $400 x-box. I think schools ought to try and help kids in money management but I think this problem largely beckons on the parents.

I believe this is a fine thread; I am 25 years old going through quarter life crisis (euphemism for no direction)
Still not out of those waters, eh? Have you tried to think about something that really bothers you about the world we live in? That could start you for a greater purpose...


and my financial lifeline is nose-diving deeper than President W. Bush’s approval ratings.
Tuition fees? :D


The parents of most people my age had parents that lived through the 1920's depression so they were deprived; they knew nothing else but deprivation- no x-box and no toys. Parents try to make sure their own kids are never deprived, plus you have to remember that these same parents are the baby boomers (the generation that had everything). This is the reason why parents today will buy their kids that $400 x-box.
Yes, that's a good speculation...


I think schools ought to try and help kids in money management but I think this problem largely beckons on the parents.
Yes... and parent could teach it too...
But they don't. So maybe the schools should.

I think the major reason it's not taught in schools is because those that have the knowledge are not teachers!

It's also possible that because the overall economy is constantly changing that attempting to have young children get a handle on things would prove more difficult then imagined. Either way I am not very pleased with anything in the world right now. I work at FedEx Kinko's for 10.71 an hour and barely make enough to really live a little.

I need medications for depression so Zoloft 100 MG, Seroquel 50 MG = 100 gone (with insurance)

Then my allergies (I become pissed without meds cuz I can't get a full breathe) Singulair + Nasoquart AQ = 80.

180 - my 520 wages every 2 weeks comes to 340

Then minus my rent to my parents that care more about money then supporting their family 100 - 340 = 240

Then there are my Therapy and Psychiatry charges = 30 with insurance

My grand fun total to work with each 2 weeks is 210. Then of course you take my 60 dollars in gas out and what we have is 150.

150+150 = 300 every month.

That really isn't alot, if my car broke down I'd need like 2 months worth of wages just to be confident I could fix + get it towed. Hahaha life sux

I have $0 to spend with fun every month. When I have a little extra, I buy something for my child. :eek:

In any case, basic finances never change. You basically demonstrated it. ;)

Hold a kitten or rabbit hostage on a website, and send out thousands of spam emails demanding ransom via PayPal.

That's the kind of business I'm currently considering! :D

Looks like somebody just read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiwosaki. Great book, by the way. For those of you out there who want a legitimate way to actually make money instead of have it flow in one pocket and out the other, it can have an immense impact on your financial statement.

Anyway, on subject, our education doesn't teach A LOT of necessary things for life. I think our education system started a downhill decline when teachers stopped educating and started teaching. This occured because the class size got so much larger that actually educating the children, making sure they understood the material, became next to impossible, especially with the amount of material teachers are required to test the children on.

AmishRakeFight

This thread is not about that book.

American schools DO teach it.
Even if your didn't, it is the responsibility of the parents and the individuals to ensure that education is something that is stressed and put to good use.
I suck with money.
I always have.
When I was making $10,000 a year I was living paycheck to paycheck.
I am now making more than ten times that, and I am still living paycheck to paycheck.
However, I have no one to blame for that but myself.
ESPECIALLY not the school system.
The public school systems here SUCKS, I am not going to argue that, but to try and slough off one's accountability for their own lack of self-control and inability to live within their own means is wrong, and frankly, pathetic, in my opinion.

Raven, did you save what you didn't spend, invest what you saved in assets, and continue the circuit? Apparently, this is the way to weath, excluding some minor details.

AmishRakeFight

American schools DO teach it.
Even if your didn't, it is the responsibility of the parents and the individuals to ensure that education is something that is stressed and put to good use.
I suck with money.
I always have.
When I was making $10,000 a year I was living paycheck to paycheck.
I am now making more than ten times that, and I am still living paycheck to paycheck.
However, I have no one to blame for that but myself.
ESPECIALLY not the school system.
The public school systems here SUCKS, I am not going to argue that, but to try and slough off one's accountability for their own lack of self-control and inability to live within their own means is wrong, and frankly, pathetic, in my opinion.
The suggestion was so that people like you could have some guidance. I wasn't blaming the school system.

I have a degree in accounting. I actually took all those classes you're recommending. Basic bookkeeping, taxes, cost allocation, investment, running a business, supply and demand, etc.

It's not all it's cracked up to be. I've still made a lot of stupid decisions, armed with all that knowledge.

Knowledge does not prevent you from making stupid decisions - wisdom does.

There really is NOTHING to educate people about. It is all common sense- Save money, do not waste resources, work hard.

For some reason, this common sense does not exist in people from rich countries.

Yes, a lot of it is common sense. Having come from a very poor country, I'm automatically just like that. But even with that commons sense, I can still lose hundreds of dollars per month if I don't keep track where it is all going. Btw, I just refined my costing system. Allow me to demonstrate it.



Week 1 Expenses

Cash
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Total
Revenues
Cash on hand $40.00 $80.00 $120.00 $160.00 $200.00 $240.00
Daily Debit $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $280.00
Child tax $0.00
Paycheck $0.00
Total Revenue $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $40.00 $280.00
Total Cash on Hand $40.00 $80.00 $120.00 $160.00 $200.00 $240.00 $280.00 $280.00
Variable Expenses
Groceries $0.00
Baby Supplies $0.00
School Supplies $0.00
Cleaning Supplies $0.00
Medical Supplies $0.00
Entertainment Supplies $0.00
Appliances $0.00
Furniture $0.00
Entertainment $0.00
Dinner out $0.00
Booze $0.00
Coffee $0.00
Cab $0.00
Other $0.00
Total Variable Expenses $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Fixed Expenses
Rent $0.00
Cable, TV and Telephone $0.00
Electricity $0.00
Cellphone $0.00
Total Fixed Expenses $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Total Expenses $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Cash $40.00 $80.00 $120.00 $160.00 $200.00 $240.00 $280.00 $280.00



PS: Formulas do not appear...
Column widths cannot be copied...

There really is NOTHING to educate people about. It is all common sense- Save money, do not waste resources, work hard.

For some reason, this common sense does not exist in people from rich countries.
I agree - occasionally I'll read a book about financial planning or money management, and 90+% of the stuff in them boils down to "spend less than you earn and pay off your debt as fast as you can." It's kind of amazing that people need books to tell them this sort of thing, and equally amazing that authors manage to fill up an entire books with it.

Also, a lot of the really major financial decision - things like "should I take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans to get more education?" - are very complicated questions that can really only be answered on an individual basis anyway.

Yes, let's ignore the logistics and information systems... :eek:

It does not matter what you are taught if you do not develop some critical judgment capabilities.

Time and again I have seen people accept and/or propose fallacious argument on all sorts of subjects.

If your basic thought processes are funky, all the financial managment courses in the world will not help you.

I think a substantial part of the problem is the capitalist culture we life and breathe in; many people I meet only really seem to care about money and how much the earn at the end of the day (and I admit sometimes it is tempting to make the same judgement on myself). We place a lot of value on the material things in life, and also a lot of things we feel we need (like computers) are expensive. Like it or not, we life in a consumer culture and many of our values mirror that.

The same consumer culture exists with children and teens. Asides from the large amounts of marketing aimed these days at children in the form of advertising, young children or teens will often mark out their 'identity' with peer groups with consumer items. These can range from computer games to makeup to clothing. To 'keep up' a kid may simply spend whatever they have, rather than learning to save or spend carefully on things which are not mere consumption but are an investment (i.e. a good book).

I think we do need to teach our children more financial literacy, since increasingly in our materialistic world we need a lot of money to get by, and provide for things like education and superannuation in adult life as well as avoid the countless scams and rip-offs parading as money-makers.

Yes...

I think we do need to teach our children more financial literacy, since increasingly in our materialistic world we need a lot of money to get by, and provide for things like education and superannuation in adult life as well as avoid the countless scams and rip-offs parading as money-makers.

You should have written, "I should teach my children.... and hope that the other parents won't teach theirs". Otherwise, the system will collapse in a heartbeat and financial responsibility will not be an issue. Capitalism without consumerism and commodifying of anything and everything? That's impossible. Calling everyone to be "responsible" is synonymous to call for the economic meltdown. It's insane world.