Yes, and a certain portion of the population will also be drunks, drug addicts, murderers, adulterers, etc.
I still believe that financial education – of some sort – should be required. If Phys Ed is, why not finance?
When my aunt was in 8th grade (in the 1950s), her public school taught the basics: how to balance a checkbook and how to create a simple budget. I think it's a shame that schools don't teach this stuff.
Two years ago, I took my 15 year old godchild shopping for her birthday. She desperately wanted a $70 pair of shoes from Nordstrom's. I caved in and bought them for her. When I mentioned they were expensive she quizzically said, "Is $70 a LOT of money?" I explained that she'd have to work for 11 hours at Starbuck to buy those shoes. She started laughing and said, "oh, very funny!" She thought I was JOKING.
That IS scary….
I don't disagree with you at all. Unfortunately, teaching personal finance is a touchy subject. There are several people who are so P.C. about things, teaching personal finance is deemed taboo. Plus, sorry to say this, I'm sure several public school teachers are woefully inadequate to teach personal finance themselves 🙂
The other interesting thing to note is that i think beyond education, the more systemic problem is the cultural view on credit in this country. There is and has always been the mentality of never really buying something and paying it off in full. It's always been buying stuff on credit, monthly payments,etc. We all do it at all levels. We finance homes, cars, medical, plastic surgery, furniture,etc. It's going to take something drastic before the mentality changes.
