Growing up is hard, but it's getting harder, even for mature adults. This is especially true when it comes to personal finance.
We are exposed to more sophisticated and sometimes downright insidious online marketing that frequently uses influencers in place of advertising. With investment apps, digital brokers, and cryptocurrencies, the world of investing is becoming increasingly complex. Hard-to-spot scams come to us every day through social media, email, and text.
We increasingly purchase products online, out of sight, and run the risk that our personal data may be compromised. Fewer employers are offering traditional pensions. Instead, it's up to the employee to decide how much to set aside for retirement, where to keep that money, and how to manage it.
Many colleges simply cannot afford tuition, but the financial aid process makes paying taxes seem relatively easy, and financial institutions beckon with federally guaranteed loans, leaving far too many young Americans is deeply in debt. As the gig economy becomes a larger part of the employment landscape, the burden of calculating health care and tax credits shifts to workers, making it more difficult to get a mortgage, buy a home, and build stability.
Clearly, young people need to be better equipped to navigate the modern world of money.
That's why there is a growing interest in teaching financial literacy in high schools. In high school, students are at an age where they understand the subject and find it relevant as they prepare to enter university and enter the workforce.
Half of all states meet the one-semester course requirement, according to Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit that promotes financial literacy instruction and provides free curriculum and teacher training. Additionally, a growing number of states are requiring financial education to be taught as part of other courses such as math and economics.
California is not among the states that require youth to take a designated financial literacy course, at least not yet. A bill to be introduced in Congress this year would require public schools to offer the course. Silicon Valley businessman Tim Lanzetta, co-founder of Next Generation Personal Finance, is collecting signatures for a similar ballot measure. He has said he would repeal the measure if the bill becomes law.
The concept is great. But making it a reality is not as easy as proponents would like us to think.
David Tokowski, a former member of the Los Angeles Board of Education, told the Times that if the state is going to add new requirements for high schools, it will also have to remove some things. Otherwise, high school students will have virtually no time to pursue the electives that interest them most. That's a good point. The state recently added a one-semester ethnic studies course to its requirements. How many more courses can I fit into a day's classes?
Adding new coursework should only occur after a more comprehensive review of California curriculum standards, with the involvement of teachers and administrators. Educators should look for potential areas of overlap or repetition. This may result in some high school courses being transferred into her 8th grade, but requires involvement from the University of California to ensure these courses are accepted as part of the AG curriculum. It will be.
The worst-case scenario would be to control the vote, no matter how well-intentioned. Such initiatives offer far too little flexibility to respond to the changing needs of students and schools.
Mandates from Sacramento have not generally proven to be the best way to improve education unless they are carried out with the involvement of those who have to carry them out. Teach high school students the intricacies of personal finance. But let's keep the big picture in mind and teach carefully.
