Should schools teach people abauth money

[The One Percent]

They taught finances in my high school. 99% of the students that took it ignored everything they learned in it and wonder why they're broke. The thing is, most of the stuff about finances is pretty simple and obvious,it just requires discipline and willpower so most people don't make the right choices since they want immediate gratification. Why do you think credit cards exist?

[Jonnusthegreat]

Checking accounts can go into negative (overdraft)... cards don't go negative, but they can go overlimit

Interesting... what's the point of a limit then if it's not a limit? What companies do this? All of them?

[Shaderas]

Interesting... what's the point of a limit then if it's not a limit? What companies do this? All of them?

Most of the big banks do... the point of a limit is it gives you a reference point of when you should stop spending, and also if you go over when it will show as overlimit for your credit. Most of the times the bank will not authorize the charge if it would push you over the limit. Sometimes they will, and some merchants can force charges through (hotels, rental cars, and I believe gas stations may be able to as well)

There is an option (you'd have to contact your credit card provider for) to have it auto-decline all transactions that would push you over the limit, but I don't have this enacted on my credit card, in case I ever get close to the limit and I need to get something in an emergency.

[Doctor Amadeus]

There are a few things that aren't explained as well in school as they could be. Concepts about building up savings as a means of weathering emergencies (and perhaps how many months of income you should look at saving up), how compounded interest works and what affect it can have on how much you really pay for that loan, how certain types of loans are structured, etc.

For interest, detailing what an interest that is compounded daily will look like, vs one that is compounded once a month. Also, explaining how a home mortgage works (30 year loan, interest is calculated compounding monthly, but they calculate full interest in if you take the full 30 years to pay it back, and your first few years of payments almost go completely to interest, sliding to more and more principal as your approach the end of the loan, etc)... the average joe probably doesn't know that a 30 year mortgage, for $100k... they'll end up paying back like 330k or 340k if their interest was like 3.5 to 4% or something.

All of that is true but most of that is horse before the carriage kind of stuff. First you have to learn to save, keep it simple, I totally agree about an emergency fund, to keep one afloat during lean times, this is also why a budget is so important.

Have to separate what you can buy vs what you can afford. At least I found, The idea is if you can't seriously walk away with a paycheck with a savings you never touch then I would say you are doing it wrong.

Most get paid bi weekly some weekly, but i would say every month you should at least have a comfortable margin of at least $50, to not spend on anything. My first goal was to set up an Emergency fund 1 year salary. Anything after that I would put towards a goal. For me my first was a Truck Ford F150. Paid it all off with cash.

If I had that to do differently, I would have saved up, then taken a loan and scheduled deposits on the loan from the account that already had me covered, it wasn't until some years later, that I learned that about credit.

Most banks just want to see data points to justify their risk, so as for buying a house and what not it sort of the same thing, but because I had next to no credit, and I saved enough for a large chunk down payment on my house, I got a good loan, decent rate, and paid it off early.

But honestly if one doesn't understand what I said in the beginning what you have vs what you can spend, it's going to be a long road.


My understanding of broke growing up was you literally have NO money all, it wasn't until later I learned that broke means well before you get to that point.


Which is why loans and credit cards in my opinion are BAD ideas, it's simply selling a future for less than it's worth.

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They taught finances in my high school. 99% of the students that took it ignored everything they learned in it and wonder why they're broke. The thing is, most of the stuff about finances is pretty simple and obvious,it just requires discipline and willpower so most people don't make the right choices since they want immediate gratification. Why do you think credit cards exist?

All true but you are missing some key points which is that information isn't meaningful, unless you can relate to it, as in why is it important vs someone telling you. Even if it's a power point or flow chart that doesn't mean shit to teenagers.

Most never really figure that shit means them.

But I agree with mostly what you are saying, there are no shortage of places to lend to fools who don't know what they have and are willing to sell it so cheap.

If someone is willing to give you $2000 of credit, the first question should be why.

I am also not saying credit cards are evil, but it is a business.

[d00mGuArD]

Well people do get scammed pretty easy if they dont understand some basic finances.

Gross and net are a good example. If you dont understand those 2, you can get scammed of job money pretty easy. (and yes...always ask abauth gross)
Then it comes to yearly taxes. Income taxes can be a pain to fill. And yes i leared this the hard way.

Its basics that everyone should know before even going to high school.

Oh and dont let me mention credit card companys.

Sure all these things will take... one hour to teach.
Not really a course. A course takes months.
What will they teach all the other months? (hopefully english... what is abauth! you have abauth in the topic as well)

[Unholyground]

I am really curious why people think that you should need education about life finances??
I never had education about it. I am doing just fine.

I mean, if you can add,substract,multiple and divid with a bit of sense of overall statistics. What else do you want?

There is more to it than that like promoting how to save and not spend, or to save money for a rainy day or emergency which basically no one does. All kinds of life expenses people are not made aware of as they are in adolescence.

[Oakshana]

I am really curious why people think that you should need education about life finances??
I never had education about it. I am doing just fine.

I mean, if you can add,substract,multiple and divid with a bit of sense of overall statistics. What else do you want?

Knowing basic math does not prepare you for the expectations of life finances and how to budget what you have.

[ghotihook]

There is more to it than that like promoting how to save and not spend, or to save money for a rainy day or emergency which basically no one does. All kinds of life expenses people are not made aware of as they are in adolescence.

Yea, I took a Dave Ramsey class and at the beginning they asked how many of the people (20 total) had enough in savings that they could pay all their bills for 6 months without putting anything on credit cards. It was a grand total of zero! Well technically me, but I was still living with my parents, so I didn't count that.

[Unholyground]

It does.



I do and you don't spend on shit that you don't want to. Self control. Sorry but every time you think "No one does", there is always someone that does it.

Yes but it is assumed some do, you are in a very small minority of people.

[Ozyorkbourne]

I always wondered why we got no education when it comes to life finances. And no math doesnt count.
Its more or less banned topic there.

Judging by your title, they should teach spelling first.

In all seriousness, there should be a 'life-skills' class that includes;

- Finance - including budgeting, paying bills, filling in forms, organization of statements and forms via folders etc.
- Employable skills
- Very basic cooking
- Writing a bare bones job or higher education application

Just a 1 hour/week or every other week slot.

[Thage]

If someone can quote the Pythagorean Theorem by heart but can't do their taxes, there's a problem. Offering a 'Finances and Economics' elective that covers things like taxes, balancing a checkbook, and other 'must-knows' would go far (and making it an elective would allow students who learn these skills at home or on their own time to avoid wasting a credit on subject matter they already understand).

[Molis]

Schools should teach people how to type and use proper punctuation.

[xindralol]

schools should teach people ‘abauth’ spelling

[ghotihook]

If someone can quote the Pythagorean Theorem by heart but can't do their taxes, there's a problem. Offering a 'Finances and Economics' elective that covers things like taxes, balancing a checkbook, and other 'must-knows' would go far (and making it an elective would allow students who learn these skills at home or on their own time to avoid wasting a credit on subject matter they already understand).

I think that's a great idea, however. I don't know if I would have been mature enough when I was in high school to take a class like that electively.
I took classes like "Team Sports", "Individual and Dual Sports", "Power Volleyball 1 & 2"...all real classes in my high school.

[Yunru]

Judging by your title, they should teach spelling first.

In all seriousness, there should be a 'life-skills' class that includes;

- Finance - including budgeting, paying bills, filling in forms, organization of statements and forms via folders etc.
- Employable skills
- Very basic cooking
- Writing a bare bones job or higher education application

Just a 1 hour/week or every other week slot.

My spelling is just fine in mother language. I am not getting paid to spell things right in english.

1. ..and also telling people what some of the finance words mean
2. It exists here is some way. But this depends on your high school choice. You need to get 60 hours of the specific job you are signed in school for. Its un-paid work more or less.
3. ..also fire safety...
4. I would only aggre on this if they give you a example of how one looks. If they just trow you down a paper and tell you to write it....
A few years ago i did had to take some class like this (when looking for a job) and they represented it such a dumb way than no1 leared abauth it.
This only applied for people with no jobs (not a school).

[Vash The Stampede]

I don't understand the video. The difference between rich and poor is how they spend money. All the prayers to Steve Jobs isn't going to make you rich. You can be fiscally responsible but being rich takes being in the right place at the right time and talent. People who are bad with money are going to spend it as fast as they make it, while people who are good with money can spend little and survive indefinitely.

Anyway what the guy was doing was pitching a product, which is probably a get rich quick scheme. Meanwhile Boston Dynamics found another way to take away more jobs. We need Universal Basic Income, not a self improvement guide.

[exochaft]

If you didnt take finance in highschool, you went a shitty school.

When I was in middle school back in the age of the dinosaurs in comparison to most people in these forums, we had home economic classes where you'd learn things like cooking, cleaning, home maintenance, and... finances! I vividly remember them having us do things like teach us how to make monthly budgets, savings/spending ratios, etc. Granted I knew a lot about the things they were teaching because I grew up having to do such things, but quite a few fellow students had eye-opening experiences when budgeting finally clicks. Ideally you'd be taught this at home, and this should still be the preferred method, but things such as this are vastly more educational and important than many things being taught in schools today... also doesn't help people seem to have this mentality that schools are a replacement for parents, which they certainly are not.

Home economics isn't even part of the curriculum in my local public school system, and they wonder why students end up staying children until their late 20's while saddling massive debt. On a similar note, civics isn't even taught in the curriculum anymore, which makes people's understanding of things like the US government and Constitution abysmally inadequate to blatantly misinformed. If anything, these types of courses should be required as they once were, with less focus on classes and subject matter that have little or no bearing on most students.

[nymphetsss]

I took a class in high school, it was mandatory, called "Career and life management" We got assigned jobs and salaries had to create budgets to live on those based on rentals in the paper. We learned about car insurance and how financing and leasing works, as well as mortgages and amortization. Income tax.

The people with shitty jobs and low salaries had to live together to split costs. We learned about personal insurance, the average cost of children. Im sure lots of other stuff I can't recall ( being like 20 years ago now)

[Vash The Stampede]

If someone can quote the Pythagorean Theorem by heart but can't do their taxes, there's a problem. Offering a 'Finances and Economics' elective that covers things like taxes, balancing a checkbook, and other 'must-knows' would go far (and making it an elective would allow students who learn these skills at home or on their own time to avoid wasting a credit on subject matter they already understand).

The government should do our taxes, not us. If we screw up our taxes they come after us, so let the government do it. Plus they can already. I'd be more concerned over people who buy $1k iPhones when in reality a $100 phone would be just fine. Or how 7 million Americans are late on auto payments cause obviously they can't afford that car. Even when it comes to buying houses and people lose their homes cause they really couldn't afford a half million or more house.

[Bodakane]

I've said for years that personal finance should be mandatory for all of a person's public school career, K-12. It should cover everything from the basics, to credit, to insurance, to investing.