Financial Literacy

Blame can be spread around for this nasty recession that the world is currently going through. Many people like to blame poor regulation of the banks by the government and inept banking moves by bankers. However, I think most of the blame resides in our education system for failing to educate or citizens about personal financial literacy. We teach our kids about how to count money in the second or third grade, which is the extent of our financial literacy education. Sure, some advanced students are able to take economics as seniors in high school, but economics is substantially different than personal financial literacy, which includes but it is not limited to understanding personal cashflows, types of credit, how to properly leverage your assets, and take "smart" risks.

We have essentially raised three generations of financially inept citizens who allow "professionals" who may be even more inept to manage their finances. This doesn't make logical sense. The ultra-rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer because the poor do not understand how money actually works. Democrat or Republican, your party tie does not matter. While there are some optional curriculums available, such as Junior Achievement's Financial Park, there has yet to be a state or federal push to mandate financial literacy amongst our youth. These levels need to step up and push for more financial literacy programs so that we can avoid the wasteful personal spending and personal mistakes that got us into this rough economic situation.