Why financial literacy education in the US sucks

Blame the Space Race … (kind of).
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It’s a common refrain: school is full of useless (if interesting!) lessons… but we learn next to nothing about how to manage our finances.
It’s true that many Americans still lack basic financial knowledge, which is a contributing factor to the money challenges - high levels of debt, insufficient savings, and poor investment decisions - that a lot of us face. But it’s not necessarily true that we never learned anything: many of us sat through a few classes on money management. It just may not have been enough to stick.
In this video, we’ll take a brief look at the state of financial education in the US: past, present, and future.
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Sources and further reading:
See the Council for Economic Education's full report, here: www.councilforeconed.org/
You can find Carly’s research, here: www.carlyurban.com/home/finan...
And to learn more about how your state stacks up, check out the American Public Education Foundation’s roundup, here: www.thenationsreportcard.org/
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[@dudere]

The highschool I work at offers a financial literacy class. If they pass it they get out of the WA state math test that they have to pass to graduate. The state either says "learn enough financial math" or "prove you know enough math".

[@ianlong5208]

Im a person in Washington state who got to take these financial classes instead of Algebra 2

[@CanadianB.O.W]

Im Canadian (obviously). But for reference i also actually had some financial literacy courses although it primarily focused around Income taxes and Taxation in a more general sense. Funny story though it was alternative schooling. From what i gathered from friends and such at the time, absolutely nothing in mainstram school in regards to finances.

[@kevinmanan1304]

@@ianlong5208 dang so jealous. I never once used algebra 2 outside of class. Y=mx+b is way more important in 49 other states than being able to budget a house and food 🤣

[@emilyegan390]

@@ianlong5208 I think that the concept is interesting in encouraging kids that don't want to do higher level math courses at least learn some financial literacy. The only caveat might be that not every kid acing Algebra 2 learns financial literacy on their own. Maybe allow kids to test out of it if they can learn the material. I think that a lot of the basics many kids could learn watching a couple dozen KZbin videos, but avoiding some basic pitfalls can avoid thousands of dollars worth of mistakes.

[@dudere]

@@emilyegan390If you can learn mostly by youtube videos you can test out of highschool in general.

[@allopriem]

The last sentence of the video is hilarious. It sounds like American students lack financial literacy because they learn too much about Biology or Geometry, but the truth is that they have no good knowledge of any of that.

[@utthejj9063]

true

[@zerog1037]

The whole situation is hilarious. America is well known for having top tier financial services and leads the accounting industry, yet the everyday American wasn't taught financial literacy 😂

[@stevencooke6451]

I was surprised that the one commenter still knew that the mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell.

[@justin878268]

Definitely. The "dimensions of triangles" bit was just a lazy regurgitation of people complaining how useless the Pythagorean Theorem was. Pick something that's ACTUALLY useless and go with that. The Pythagorean Theorem is so basic and easy to understand and SO important/fundamental to everything around us. Just because people don't understand its application doesn't make it useless. I think part of the problem is that a lot of the math curriculum focuses on numbers/drills than it does with word problems to get students to understand its real world applications.

[@Microphunktv-jb3kj]

too much Biology? Like that theres 0+89126982690 genders? yeah nice biology....

[@alancham4]

It’s always presented like people need to be prepared against something natural like weather, but we’re being actively ripped off from every corner.

[@yellowdog3872]

Financial literacy is one thing, but it's taught in such a neutral tone. It needs to taught on the level that there are businesses who commit fraud against its customer. There are businesses who rely on their customers not reacting to a price increase. Or specifically when being employed, the value of your labor and time. A business might ask of you to spend 5 minutes of unpaid overtime everyday to take care of something. You might not think much of it, but over the course of the year that's 21 hours of free labor the business has taken from ONE person.

[@Jmmm19]

​@@yellowdog3872 people in power have negative incentive to educate those not in power.

[@elbozo5723]

Found the fast food worker

[@alancham4]

@@elbozo5723 that’s a weird impulse.

[@rijidernacht1157]

Graduated in 2022. I took consumer math which is essentially a tax class. Learned how to file taxes, calculate interest, budget, etc.

[@learntoswim8762]

congrats

[@jennastephens1224]

I thought I wasn't finacially literate, but according to the small quiz in the video I am. My school did not offer any finance classes at all, despite it being a large high school (My graduating class had ~800 students, which is average for my school). I mostly learned finance from talking to and taking care of my Grandma, a retired CPA. I also found lots of high quality educational videos online and I highly recommend Crash Course's series titled "Economics". The whole thing is free here on KZbin (Edit: Spelling)

[@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460]

Thanks for recommending the Economics Crash Course! It really is worth it. (I was super happy to get all the quiz answers correct, too! It's the little things that are most awesome. 🤗)

[@dreammaker9642]

Do you know the difference between simple interest and compounded interest and are you able to calculate both? If not then sorry to say even South Africa is way ahead of you in terms of education. Which is sad when you consider the fact that SA has to lower some standards so it is fair to the disadvantaged kids due to apartheid. Even with that to pass high school with pure math you have to know that as well as stats, calculus, Euclidean geometry and trig. Oh and algebra can’t forget the good old algebra but by grade 12 it’s already a habit to do algebra.

[@ltjgambrose]

It's also because of the fact that terms like "literate" can mean different things to different people. Someone might say "No, I'm not very literate" if they've never read Shakespear or Hemmingway, while someone that's collecting literacy stats is trying to ask them "What sound does 'ph' make?". That's not a problem though, it's just a reason to advocate for more education and to keep learning even after you leave school.

[@NH-hq7ly]

It's just basic math and common sense to me. Third question required you to know their definition.

[@emilyegan390]

To be fair I think that the 3 question quiz is a pretty low bar whereas financial knowledge. Given I would be scared for someone that struggled with it, but there are a lot of things that knowing that would be valuable even without getting in niche knowledge that doesn't apply to everyone that the 3 question quiz doesn't cover. There is tons of good content for free on KZbin, but there is also a lot of misinformation.

[@JJs_playground]

1:20 holy moly, those are the questions to qualify if somebody is "financially literate" or not. Those are some of the most basic questions.

[@explodingpryro]

I completely agree. It’s like saying if you know the numbers 1-10, then you are math literate. . .except for the stock question I think math alone i could have gotten the first 2 questions right around the 4th grade (maybe earlier).

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

@@explodingpryro I got all three right, but the stock one is irrelevant for me as I've never had enough extra money to put into stocks. Back when I was younger, the fees were so high that you needed to buy a fortune in stocks at one time to make any profit. If it takes $40 or more to make a trade, but the stocks are only moving by pennies, imagine how long it would take to get your money back.

[@fairywingsonroses]

They are basic questions, but I couldn't answer two of them. I even taught financial literacy, and the class didn't really spend time on any of this. To be fair, I was a history teacher, and the class was thrown in my lap without any additional training on how to teach it, but even then, the curriculum requirements were so huge that it was impossible to cover everything in the time allotted. My year-long US history class had fewer learning requirements than the semester-long financial literacy class did. And even if I could mentally calculate interest or knew the difference between the various stocks and mutual bonds, etc. it still doesn't explain how to actually use or invest in any of those things. I taught the stock market in both history and financial literacy, and I couldn't even begin to know how to actually invest in stocks in a way that would be lucrative. I would literally be randomly guessing unless I hired and advisor or a broker to help me with the ins and outs. So my take on it is this: Teachers need more training on how to teach this stuff, and kids need opportunities to practice actually doing it so that they don't have to spend money on a financial advisor to help them figure it out because it's FAR more complex than just simply being able to calculate the interest.

[@marlonmoncrieffe0728]

I did not get the third one AT ALL while the first two were SO easy.

[@AndrewHanson-rl9in]

That’s what I was thinking. I had to read the first one twice because I thought I was missing something 😂

[@shubhrajit2117]

I live in India and we were taught simple interest, compound interest, depreciation and the like in 6th grade

[@primius562]

I live in Mexico. We were taught mutual funds, ETFs, derivatives and mutual funds in 3rd grade

[@blazer9547]

Good, now stay in India. Don't cross through illegally.

[@zerog1037]

Same in south africa and this continues until gr12. You're taught much more than simple interest and depreciation.

[@louyou6614]

​@blazer9547 I am not indian nor american . But hiw tf could an idian CROSS illegally Heis one continent +sea away

[@arnavsaxena4278]

@@blazer9547 funny given so many of your big companies are managed by "illegal' indians. bet you cant point us out on a map

[@TomNook.]

For that to happen, they first need maths literacy.

[@1jandavis]

That's what calculators are for these days.

[@nuke___8876]

My first take was: "Didn't you pay attention in math?" And not even interesting math -- arithmetic will get you 90% of the way for most basic personal finance issues. Financial education just defines terms but all the tools are there in primary school/middle school math. Even if you've never heard of compound interest, it takes two minutes to look up, maybe 5 seconds to understand it it, and then another 10-20 seconds to grab a calculator and do the work.

[@papalpatte]

A calculator doesnt tell you what to do in order to get actual results@@1jandavis

[@anoxie1301]

For that to happen, they first need literacy.

[@RegularUserOfficial]

@@nuke___8876 Yeah, I was very confused throughout the whole video because I thought I misunderstood something. It's just basic math, I don't see what is so difficult that a person would need a dedicated class for it

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

It's not a bug, it's a feature

[@Yakita60]

Bingo

[@pfefferle74]

Exactly. Imagine if all the school kids grew up saving their money instead of spending it on fleeting consumerism. That be the downfall of the economy.

[@Dan99]

@@pfefferle74 People investing more money would mean more money in the stock market, thus pushing up stock prices. That would definitely benefit the wealthy

[@unOoOnu]

​@@Dan99no way do they benefit nearly as much from someone without much money investing it in their company than that same person spending that money with their company

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

@@unOoOnu 🎯

[@eliljeho]

Next do health literacy, because some people haven't been educated that taking certain meds it's important to take them in a certain way.

[@geronibro2270]

Healthcare literacy too. The US healthcare system is so convoluted with all kinds of insurance plans where even the smallest misunderstanding can result in crippling medical debt. TBH, I would prefer the prescribing doctor instruct people how to take meds. I doubt the average high school teacher has the necessary training to teach drug interactions and side effects. People just need to afford seeing a doctor first...

[@trawrtster6097]

I think health literacy should go hand in hand with gym and home economics. A significant portion of Americans could be healthier if they understood how to shop for and make healthy foods at home and took on healthy exercise habits.

[@churblefurbles]

by the same people who have failed at all other "literacy" to the point where their own systems are insolvent where costs increase at rates beyond anything else, just lol

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

You sound fatphobic! Monster!

[@piteshmistry9957]

Part of me thinks this is by design. So many people spend through consumerism, from social media etc. and credit card companies, other corporations get millions or billions in profit - If then all of a sudden a large population of people where a lot more savvy on what and how they spend/save their money, it would create a huge economic shift (for the better), but do you think corporations would enjoy that... i highly doubt it

[@TomNook.]

Yup, it's obviously deliberate. We have the children of financially literate adults now not knowing what to do with wealth - so they fritter it all away on consumables. All of which are made by the rich. Tada, there's your flow of middle class assets to the uber wealth in a nutshell.

[@svenvanholten5984]

In Europe the government handles the majority of these tasks for us: takes out a cut out of our salary before it reaches us, we have a mandatory retirement payments, and very strict anti-debt regulations (against eg high credit card debt). If this was all left up to us, we would probably end up the same as the US

[@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460]

Also, if you learn early to be vigilant with your finances, and you save for retirement, companies like Walmart wouldn't have older people to exploit. 🤨

[@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460]

I'm in my 50s and it's amazing the things we were taught in Elementary and Junior High Schools that kids today know nothing about. Even watching cartoons on a Saturday morning as I grew up had commercials for cereal and toys, AND *School House Rock* teaching us to count, our parts of speech, Civics, etc. In 8th grade, taking home economics meant cooking, sewing and finances. I remember in my 9th grade Civics class, we had to get up and recite the preamble to the Constitution. I got an extra 5 points because I sang it (thanks, School House Rock!). 🤗

[@alexcholagh8330]

Very few schools still teach school house rock. Most schools today got rid of it calling "obsolete and politically incorrect." But yet they teach LGBTP/LGBTQ,CRT and other usless classes

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

There was no "School House Rock" on TV when I was growing up, and there was no civics class offered in high school either. I'm 70.

[@kellymonroy8802]

I had a class like this, it was required. Taught me a lot. Now it’s an elective course and nobody wants to take it yet students complain that school is useless 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@luciw.3133]

Even if it is an elective, you just might not be able to take it. When I was in school (a small rural one at that), we essentially had two paths in high school: you're going to college or your not going to college. If you were on the college path, you couldn't take the classes like Home Ec. that included in depth financial literacy because you had to take a 'higher level' elective that would help you get the right credits for college applications. So instead of Home Ec., I took Psychology, an extra life science class, an extra history class, and joined band and choir which took up a class slot so I could have more activities that looked good on my application. My schedule was essentially set from the moment I stepped through the doors in 9th grade, and it never had a spot for Home Ec.

[@scmora100]

@@luciw.3133 That's sad. Maybe if there was a financial literacy honors class, that would attact institutions.

[@RetroGirl1967]

@@luciw.3133 That's the problem with making it an elective. There may not be space in the schedule, especially the focus on taking as many AP classes as possible.

[@perfectlyyoubeauty]

I’m a high school teacher in Ohio and it’s required to pass a standalone financial literacy class in order to graduate. I think it’s great and very necessary but as someone stated in another comment.. students have to be open and receptive to the information. Yes, it’s a teachers job to present the information in an engaging and relevant manner but many students view their non core academic classes as a time to blow off steam, do homework for other classes or feel it’s not as important as math, history, ELA or science.

[@cheesewizz8134]

When did this become a requirement? As someone who went to high school in Ohio, I don’t remember ever taking a financial literacy class.

[@perfectlyyoubeauty]

@@cheesewizz8134 within the last few years. Students who are currently sophomores and younger are required to take it to graduate.

[@scmora100]

@@cheesewizz8134 What year did you graduate? And is it a public high school?

[@franklsuarez]

Though there are jokes about guys that take Home Ec, but I think it is useful. I think it is a perfect class for personal finance. It would also be a good class for career prep, such as working on resumes. Or, how to understand a lease. The problem with high school now is sometimes it is a joke. One time I saw a literal fight between a student and teacher in the cafeteria. They might teach a class on personal finance, but would students care?

[@Yakita60]

Great comment! I DO remember being taught the stock market in economics class. My teacher said “now, remember this, because you may use this on the future”. I listened, a lot of my classmates didn’t want to. You gotta get students to care, first and foremost

[@gmdille]

I specifically took Home Ec in HS in the late Aughts because it had a financial literacy component. Midsize school in Ohio

[@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460]

I took a typing class in 9th grade that became the basis of my earnings throughout college and law school. Back then (early 80's), we used those mimeograph sheets to make copies while typing and one of the things we worked on was *creating and typing Resumes.* Because of that class, you learn to be painstakingly careful with your accurate typing because, if you didn't, the copies would be jacked up and you'd have to do it all over again. 🎶 *Meeeeeemmmooorrriiiieeesssss, liiike the cooooorrrneeers of my miiiiiiinnnnnddddd.* 🎵

[@PSNDonutDude]

While I wish I could do some basic home EC stuff, even basic home maintenance is important. So many guy friends are useless at being handy around the house. These guys are as useless with a drill and a saw as they are with a crochet needle.

[@Tithis]

Both home ec and shop were required classes in my middleschool. In highschool I took economics as an elective and the teacher took quite a good chunk of time to do a lot of financial literacy stuff. Had to pick a job we wanted, do a mock interview, decide what car we wanted and how we would pay for it (if we even could with the job we picked), saving for retirement, etc.

[@ericispublius]

Financial literacy is SO important; I do believe that the problems stated in @0:36 are more in part due to rampant exploitation Most people in my circle are financially literate & want to save for these things, but our rent is too high, groceries are more expensive, we must own a car in the US sprawl, & our bosses don't want to pay us living wages

[@amethystdream8251]

Well said. There's no way around it, we need the wages to match the cost of living. The landlords and bosses need to upgrade their negotiation skills and stop with the bullying tactics.

[@1017KitchenBoy]

The tax code is set up for entrepreneurs. Be your own boss

[@fadethechannel]

The fact that you’re renting and not purchasing shows a lack of financial literacy. You’re throwing money away. Get a starter house and build equity. 😊

[@jacquelynchin5513]

I agree! It’s because there is a difference between being financially literate (understanding principles and concepts) and financial freedom and stability (being able to spend and save according to your needs and goals). The former is simply knowledge whereas the latter is the execution that’s heavily reliant on the systems in place and outside factors that will exploit people for their advantage. Just because I know I should be saving x% of my paycheck doesn’t mean I actually can do that under the conditions I’m living and working in

[@jacquelynchin5513]

⁠@@fadethechannelhaving enough liquid assets for a down payment, renovations, furniture, and property taxes is extremely hard to save up for. The vast majority of people would like to own property to own an asset and build equity, but with the current economic climate, it’s hard to save even if mortgage rates are similar to monthly rent

[@b1646717]

I can answer the 3 literacy questions but not because of what I was taught in school. All of it was self taught as an adult.

[@zerog1037]

Granted they're very basic. In highschool under financial mathematics you're taught annuities, effective interest rates, depreciation, bonds, break even point snd various costs and sinking funds. Financial mathematics forms a section of math and makes up about 15% of the syllabus.

[@user-jk2zm7uq5s]

Actually a knowledge of English is sufficient to answer all of the three questions: Question 1) Cent is what is less than a dollar and probably means 100 because there's 100 cent in the dollar. Per cent therefore probably means "of hundred", and since whatever 2% means happens five times ("five years) we assume it's more than what likely happens if it only happens once. Question 2) Two is more than one, so that's that. (The implied inflation may be more difficult to grasp) Question 3) A single stock, is just that. One thing of, well, something. A mutual fund is something else of no idea what. Let's assume it's more than just a single whatever. Which carries more risk: just one thing we know nothing about or more than one thing (assumption, because "mutual" sounds like "at least two", think "mutual understanding/agreement etc") of something we don't know anything about.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

@@zerog1037 There was none of that when I was in school.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

@@user-jk2zm7uq5s My mutual fund is a fixed interest account similar to a savings account, but I have to keep a minimum balance to get the interest, and it pays a lot more than the savings account. There's no way to directly compare that to a stock, except that I know from reading that not many stocks pay dividends better than the interest on my mutual fund.

[@andiemorgan961]

It's sad that 'living skills' such as how to eat healthily and basic management of personal finances are yet more 'subjects' to be pushed upon schools. Not that far in the past, it would have been considered elements of responsible parenting!

[@UdderlyEvelyn]

I'm 33. I had one home ec class in middle school for half a semester, and I mostly learned soem laundry stuff and names of cooking utensils. My big takesway was "slotted spoon". I don't know if I learned any finances in that class, but what I did end up learning from my parents and/or school was super out of date. I learned about checks and a checkbook, and about how debt is bad and you should never borrow money. I learned that banks will approve you for loans if you have good income and pay your bills. None of this applied by the time I was going to use it.

[@Davethreshold]

Please see my Home Ec. comment above! ❤

[@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460]

I'm having a terrible day. Actually, a terrible week. But reading your comment, specifically *_"My big takesway was "slotted spoon"._"* made me laugh So Hard!!!! I am grateful to you for that! Thank you, THANK YOU!! Have a beautiful day, Evelyn! 🤗

[@doujinflip]

Right, the risk of teaching such specific technical information is that they're no longer relevant when you finally need it. Those algebra and calculus are useful not because of the equations you'd solve, but because you're developing the underlying mindset to understand how to build the equation and manipulate the numbers when similar situations arise -- things like figuring out how expensive gas really is driving abroad when it's priced in Kroners per Liter.

[@erinrising2799]

that's more than I learned in that class. Teacher had us in groups and the groups I was in had a boy who wanted to be a chef. So he did all the cooking, and I did all the washing up. She graded on participation, so the fact I was just washing dishes didn't matter. I did learn personal finance, but that was in High School and from the Ag teacher

[@PeterSramka]

Everything you listed that you learned about finance is not out of date. The fact that you think so shows how truly financially illiterate you really are.

[@pasta_boi8266]

I don't need a financial literacy class. I have Animal Crossing.

[@nelsonvazquez8104]

😂😂😂😂

[@davidk7439]

I agree with others here when they say that these classes won't fix poverty, but I'll also add it's probably not the point in this video. Lack of financial literacy, anong otger things like academic and media literacy, are responsible for why a lot of garbage is propped up and allowed to fester. Most people that have fed into the Web3 grifts (NFTs, Crypto, A.I) have done so from a position of financial illiteracy. Willfully paying into them as investments requires you to either have a poor understanding of how currencies/stocks work, or being willing to suspend that understanding to dupe others. Improved financial literacy won't save us from systemic collapses like the 2008 recession (As those are instances where institutions were duping regular people), but they can potentially save people from buying into outright scams, and from accidentally diving into debt.

[@fadethechannel]

Oh and Arizona state just passed a measure to study adding Bitcoin ETF TO THEIR PENSION PLANS. Just happened today 😊 seems like you’re being left behind kid.

[@moogle68]

AI is not a grift, lol. The other two you mentioned, yes, but AI is not a joke. It is going to be an integral part of technological developments going well into the future. Although, it _would_ be useful to include some computer maintenance/Technological Literacy courses to more schools so that kids can understand better how to identify scams, misinformation, and the realistic potential/applications of future technologies.

[@kennethvanoosten3202]

I did take an economics course in high school, but most of my own financial literacy came from reading it on my own growing up. It was never emphasized enough in school growing up. Glad to see things are changing. The only reason my family has a middle class lifestyle is because of the smart economic decisions my parents and grandparents made and helped teach me. I've lost track of how many friends and relatives I've seen get trapped in debt and poverty because they were never taught how to manage their money well.

[@Davethreshold]

I think Home Economics is very important also! Maybe you could do a mini-doc on that? One pound of frozen green beans or peas is about $1.20 at Walmart. I see people stuff their carts with all this PRE-COOKED or PRE-COOKED FROZEN stuff. It is 5 times more expensive and 1/5th as healthy.

[@crackhead8670]

My school district required 2 years of finance classes and people still don't learn. 😅

[@spoonkies]

Consumer spending drives the US economy - the average Joe needs to spend to keep the system going. This allows a small percentage of individuals who already have capital to reap the benefits

[@lexm17]

An extremely popular consumer expert here in the U.K. Martin Lewis told a government committee this week financial literacy should be taught in schools and a Conservative MP just made a face and laughed it off. The RW don’t want children to learn about economics or basic personal finance because that would mean they could challenge the status quo I.e. capitalism

[@ElyonDominus]

This is what people who screech about saving your way out of poverty don't get. This is by design.

[@lexm17]

@@ElyonDominus absolutely

[@zerog1037]

Wht no. I took business, finanical mathematics, economics and accounting in highschool. Countries are mixed economies and the status quo is keynesian economics. Learning these subjects will not make you default to challenging capitalism, rather they will make you want to embrace it as an active and knowledgeable participant in the economy.

[@Josh-ks7co]

The 3 problems listed at the beginning almost certainly have more to do with the fact that adjusted for inflation the uneducated have had a steep drop off in earnings. This is despite overall wealth increasing.

[@metabeard3788]

I remember my Home Ec class had a section on saving and budgeting for a car or home, but we never really talked about taxes. The attitude was always that they expected our parents would walk us through our taxes.

[@TonyGriffin-zd7sv]

Thank goodness you brought this up! Truly, investing has changed my perspective on how one can succeed in life; working multiple jobs isn't the optimal way to attain financial freedom and unfortunately, we discover this later in life. Currently earn as much as 10 grand weekly and this has improved my financial life. Great piece!

[@DongaiTmorten]

Wow, congratulations on your impressive investment success! Your discipline and focus on delayed gratification is truly inspiring. I'm curious, what are some of the key factors that you consider when making investment decisions? Do you have any tips for those of us who are just starting to dip our toes into the world of investing? Thanks for sharing your story!

[@TonyGriffin-zd7sv]

She's OLIVIA SULLIVAN FINANCIALS

[@hanzo-dr7wi]

she's a known advisor. I actually did look her up curiously and went through her credentials on her webbsite... Top-notch! I wrote her an email, hopefully she's accepting new intakes.

[@SmithCollins-xd9ho]

She's definitely going to help you. All you have to do is look up her full name and reach out to her on her webbsite...

[@user-mu2hr1by3g]

She's definitely going to help you. All you have to do is look up her full name and reach out to her on her webbsite...

[@chanelf.4934]

It doesn’t matter if financial literacy isn’t taught in schools. They teach you math. If we’re failing at teaching math then what’s the expectation for financial literacy? People don’t even check their bank accounts they just spend all day everyday. They teach you addition and subtraction throughout your entire life, you use this everyday in your life. If you’re spending more than you get … then you’re in debt (negative).

[@Riefaldhi]

Thank's vox, for bring this topic

[@ziqi92]

I teach Computer Science at a community college. I try to sneak in a lesson on finance by teaching students how to calculate their federal taxes. The objective? Create a tax calculator program for the upcoming tax season. Difficult, but far from impossible. And many of them fail to grasp it.

[@kathrinlindern2697]

A program to calculate their own, likely fairly simple taxes, I assume? A program that optimizes taxes for every possible taxpayer in the country is... not a task for a single person. Or a group of 20.

[@ziqi92]

@@kathrinlindern2697 correct. It’s just a basic calculator that only considers a single or joint income and the federal taxes to be owed on that amount. No special deductions or anything. No optimizations to consider.

[@jesusxis]

i think in order to have money literacy as an adult is to have at least savings, thus at least in order to practice it, you need more money and most adults now doesn't have that

[@endgamefond]

For some reasons i like the voiceover of this video. It sounds calm and also clear.

[@chengkuoklee5734]

I read a comment somewhere: Americans' math talents allocated in sports analysis, it is so weired they don't allocate this talent in politic or finance.

[@fourcatsandagarden]

High schools absolutely need Home EC(onomics) classes, and yet most schools have gutted home ec specifically from their curriculums (and the few that still offer it seem to always make it entirely voluntary) since it's not a core focus of state mandated graduation exams.

[@danculea7865]

The rule of thumb with loans is if you don't use it for an investment (starting a business, buying a house to save rent etc) then it's not worth it.

[@reecedrystek2992]

Buying a house is not an investment. It is still a depreciable asset just like a car just a different duration.

[@danculea7865]

@@reecedrystek2992 It is an investment as a domicile if you pay mortgage and some maintenance costs instead of rent since you'll end up with a valuable asset. It's also an appreciating asset, values have at least doubled in the last 20 years and beat inflation by a fair margin. A car loses 10% of value immediately after purchase and about 50% after 5 years. Broadly speaking, as long as population growth is greater than the house supply increase, the price of houses will go up (high demand, low supply aka shortage). If the supply becomes greater than the demand, either by building more or by population decrease then prices will go down. The only worthwhile alternative would be to rent and invest in shares worth a similar value to a mortgage in a property company. You don't own a house, you own a little bit of a lot of houses. Less profitable due to admin fees, but it gives you more mobility.

[@JtrainMedia]

I absolutely agree that financial literacy should be taught in schools. But I think the issue is largely behavioral. We live in a world where credit systems are set up at every corner to take advantage of your natural craving for instant gratification and offer you "benefits" like cash back and airline miles you think are helping you out but just give the bank another turn of the slot machine hoping you can't pay it off over time. Even in this video they tout credit scores (which only tells a bank how farmable you are) and "low interest rate" loans taken out because someone can't afford what they are buying as a good thing when they are a major contributor to the problem. Nobody wants to save for retirement, build an emergency fund, or save for their child's education because nobody wants to invest short term pain and instill discipline that will result in long term gain and prosperity for them and their family tree. You just need 3rd grade math to understand monetary systems. I think a basic understanding of this while also pairing it with behavioral tools / techniques would have the greatest impact.

[@felixlpilon]

In Québec I was taught about all of this in high school. :)

[@ldragon4514]

I had this one teacher that taught us compound interest, debit vs credit cards, how to write a check, etc. I was 8.

[@darexinfinity]

I learned about interest back in jr high, my friend would let me borrow money but it came with $5/week simple interest. That was a lesson I never forgot about. The hard part about remembering financial education is that it's completely abstract until kids get a job and make real money. I was 23 when I first began paying taxes.

[@tonys.1946]

"trickle up effect" I love it

[@elizabethdavis1696]

Do a similar video on civics education

[@BasBruurs]

Nice, i am financial literate

[@Terrinist]

me too, atleast i do some math before making these answers

[@sirdiealot53]

Just not literate.

[@IfYouSeekCaveman]

​@@amethystdream8251 Made me laugh. So, much more helpful than your fun-policing.

[@BasBruurs]

@@sirdiealot53 English is not my first language. Sorry for any mistake

[@Curling_Rack]

bout tree fiddy

[@InfinityVortex09]

I was really lucky they had two elective classes that covered finances. I took both so I knew solidly how to manage my finances.

[@iphone3gs96]

Pennsylvania requires a personal finance class. People from high school complain about not being taught finance, they just weren’t paying attention.

[@billhinshillwood2670]

What good is a financial literacy class if your entire salary goes towards rent, bills, college loan payments, gas for your car, insurance, and grocery bills?

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

A little bit of financial literacy would tell you that you can get a cheaper place to live and buy cheaper groceries. The college loan is your own fault. If you're not in a profession, such as doctor, lawyer, etc., then the college was a 100% waste of money.

[@ThePapawhisky]

My high school offered no financial literacy education. But in 8th grade I got a paper route. I delivered newspapers and collected the payment. I opened a bank account. I learned about interest. Eventually I bought a motorcycle and learned about operating costs. I was lucky.

[@legodragster]

It's adorable that anyone can assume they will be able to retire.

[@doujinflip]

All we hear is shame about not saving and hustling enough, when the real problem is we're not paid enough for the work we're already doing.

[@AtLeastTryALittle]

Went to public school in Los Angeles. We definitely learned any compound interest in middle school. I paused for the quiz, and i don't consider myself to be financially literate (at least not compared to my wife who has an international economics and finance degree), but i felt like the questions were so easy that i kept searching for some kind of trick or twist. If there are really that many people (57%!!!) who can't answer such easy questions, then the education system in the rest of the country is far worse than I ever could have imagined.

[@user-jk2zm7uq5s]

Especially since chosing a random answer should generate a 33% pass/66% fail rate given that "don't know" and especially "refuse to answer" sure aren't going to be the correct answer. (Which makes the results even more bewildering)

[@p_rry]

@@user-jk2zm7uq5sGuessing on all of the questions completely at random ignoring the "Don't know" and "Refuse to answer" options gives you a 1/18 chance of passing

[@solarmoth4628]

Financial Literacy was required to graduate HS in NJ. You could take AP economics I think and not take Personal Finance. I guess my teacher taught me well because I passed the quiz. We covered a lot in that class and made our own stock portfolios, learned about interest and how to buy an apartment. We’d definitely covered the basics but there’s definitely a lot more that could be covered if it wasn’t just a semester long course.

[@PeteFredrickson]

Glad to hear things are starting to change for the better on this front.

[@FluffyBeowolf-yw5ce]

I was educated in the UK and took a partial graded class that taught financial literacy. but it was optional, and only around 15% of my year opted to take it. which, considering this class was given in the last years of high school, meant that only around 20 people took it

[@IsYitzach]

I remember financial literacy was part of my economics class (a required course) in Idaho in about 2004. I don't know exactly how much stuck. But I remember it was there. So, Idaho has been yellow on that map at 4:52 for quite some time.

[@Eoin-B]

I seriously can't believe your country would overlook mandatory business studies for at least the first few years in middle and high schools. Many of us here find that we need to change things for even more self suffenciey as an adult. Giving us the option between woodwork, metalwork and home economics has been a problem in how self-sufficient the state wants to make our future generations. Sure you can build a table or weld something if you choose the former 2 but almost nobody will use those skills every day. But you can't make yourself a meal, change a plug socket, unblock a sink or toilet, mend a piece of clothing and know the difference in cuts of meat, and their health benifits vs price values. Then even more saving and budgeting curriculum but focused on the home vs what business studies teaches. You know how to be human classes. It's nonsense they are non mandatory.

[@RetroGirl1967]

YES. There are basic life skills that most people need to know and should be taught in school.

[@escvoid]

My state, Ohio, recently just started requiring a financial literacy class for graduation. I'm taking one of these classes next year

[@bettydaweirdo8364]

I go to school in Toronto and they have implemented financial literacy as a unit in gr 9 math and beyond!

[@thegeekgaming6037]

My public high school in Illinois taught us how credit scores work, different investment vehicles and almost Dave Ramsey like psychology on how to be smart with money (like keep putting aside your car payment after it is paid off to save for a new car or anything else)

[@stellacalder5023]

We had one financial literacy class in high school, but it was just the remedial math class for if you weren't ready for Algebra I, so you weren't put in that class unless you were more than a year behind in math. Of course, financial literacy without an algebra foundation is pretty much useless, so it was just a filler course.

[@jasminelewis2621]

I am a family and consumer science teacher and recent MBA graduate. I choose to teach this subject specifically as I felt the same way that many felt coming out of high school and even throughout my undergraduate career. I can't wait to see what curriculum changes we may see within our schools on how we can better prepare students for the world that we live in.

[@happytomeetyou2047]

Thanks for sharing this. I wish this was shown me in school

[@FaeAstray]

I learned from this video that I am VERY financially literate, I just don't have the finances to be literate WITH

[@Furiousbanner]

Congratulations, me too🎉🎉🎉

[@CaraMarie13]

I was in an accounting class in high school but never heard the word budget the entire time. My middle school math teacher thankfully liked to use real life examples on money for the questions. Though the most important thing I learned from her was how to calculate percentages. I never knew it would come in handy later.

[@zerog1037]

You are taught how to budget in accounting. Tht forms part of cost accounting.

[@selimabouelnil6763]

To us European this video is like a door to another dimension.

[@efeddwdw9782]

ur comment makes no sense

[@roopek.9511]

Yeah, this is pretty wild compared to how things like this are in Europe 😂

[@isaackinsley1662]

In what way?

[@selimabouelnil6763]

In Europe things work in a completely different and probably much better way. For example we dont use credit card, it's still a thing but the vast majority of people use debits, and credit scores arent a thing at all. You can just go to your bank ask for a loan for litterally what ever reason you want and as long as you have a stable job with a salary that allows you to repay your loan monthly, chances are you'll get your loan. @@isaackinsley1662

[@GC041]

The only financial education I remember getting was a small unit in 5th grade, and maybe a little chat in 6th.

[@johnchessant3012]

This is interesting to me, because I'm in favor of teaching these things in school but not strongly so. In today's age, all information is accessible if you want to search for it, so what matters is your motivation to learn it. I can understand not being motivated to learn math or something if you're force-fed it in school, but if you're an adult, I don't think it's a lot to ask for you to be curious and take some time to learn how to manage your money since it affects you so personally. And, while you're at it, learn how your own financial situation ties into broader societal issues and become more well-informed about the world.

[@jeanaquin]

My high school has a required personal finance class. My graduating class was the first to take it (class of 2020). It used the Dave Ramsey curriculum. While I’m not the biggest fan of him, I’m glad that I had to take it and I learned a lot that I still use today as someone who’s about to graduate college.

[@gorillashop337]

As a matter of fact I did read Tolstoy piece after learning my ABC’s that much of a genius I am, I’m also very humble. 😮

[@miguelmartins1338]

The questions that were asked at minute 1:45 are relatively very easy and you said that you can't learn quickly, it takes time, but these basic things, you can even learn them in 1 day

[@BunkerSquirrel]

As an engineer, one of the more challenging and interesting classes I took was a financial maths course. A lot of the maths and lateral thinking required to master financial planning is incredibly useful and applicable to an engineering degree. If you have the option to learn financial maths you are doing yourself a great service taking that course, both in life and in preparing you for the rigors of college.

[@quantum.spectrum]

Thanks for sharing such a brilliant information

[@devonalexac]

We had a financial literacy class that was mandatory in my high school. However, it was mainly remembering the definitions of each term. We would have a vocab lesson in the beginning of the week, and by the end we would have a test to see if we remembered what each word meant. We spent half of one class day going over how to write out a check, that is it. Our books were also from the 90s and had many outdated terms. (I was in high school in the mid 2010s)

[@GiddyGarlos]

THIS VIDEO REWIRED MY BRAIN THANK YOU

[@benriltic]

The problem isn't the access to the class, it's making it mandatory to pass the class before graduating. I was able to take a home ec class in high school but not requited and of course I was pushed more towards STEM classes than how to survive in this world. The focus on STEAM now is great, but the kids (everyone) need to know how to survive before they can be an engineer or an artist or any type of career.

[@spacewalker9375]

I don’t think that’s necessarily true. The core thing I learned from my engineering degree was how to logically solve a problem using the tools available to you. (In engineering specifically; that would be physics and mathematics). We did not heavily indulge in the theoretical realm. I would then argue that STEM courses teaches you how to logically reason ideas and concepts, therefore the student, too, should be able to transfer and apply the basic skill set to other parts of their life.

[@RetroGirl1967]

YES! There are certain basic skills most people need/should know to be a basic functioning adult. These skills range from useful to essential no matter what someone is going to be after they leave school.

[@jazzyj6640]

I took Home Ec in middle school at Dover Air Force base.

[@ArchOfWinter]

Since finance is just fancy math, we should integrate it into math. This way, math would be less abstract and for resource strapped schools, they don't need to create a new class that might take attentions away from other needed classes.

[@iammrbeat]

Don't just teach them financial literacy. Teach them about generational wealth so they know that the so-called American Dream is often out of reach.

[@juliav.mcclelland2415]

I remember an evening in grad school where I just freaked over all the complicated rules and processes there are regarding money and finances and how I didb't understand any of it. I assumed everyone else automatically knew it and that there was something wrong with me for not just grasping it as quickly and easily as everyone else must have.

[@sepehrabtahi352]

1:10 this is such a low bar. It’s like saying you have a brain, so you're financially literate.

[@sepehrabtahi352]

1:41 "It takes time to understand this stuff" Bruh. What!?

[@razberrie27]

5:00 just a little note, a lot of school districts within grey states have their own requirements for financial education! I live in Wisconsin and in my school district you are required to pass a personal finance class in order to graduate, even by GED or HSED.

[@ChasingAmy97]

I was taught financial literacy in public school and I graduated 10 years ago. Most of you just weren’t paying attention in class and wanna blame the whole system.

[@frankjperalta]

Is the Metro ad playing the PBS Two Cents theme song in the background?

[@SkippyKairos]

I am so happy I chose to take my optional budgeting class instead of the usual algebra II or trigonometry the prep kids did to make their resume’s to look good. Perhaps mine beats them out in the long run!

[@trashpandatwtch]

As a current high school student, a financial literacy class would be so much more useful than whatever PE is supposed to be.

[@anushkajamal]

I passed the quiz and you better believe I am still broke and in debt 😂😂😂

[@micosstar]

came from youtube recommend, classic ol' Vox

[@TomTom_.]

LITERALLY wished my school had a GOOD financial literacy class😭

[@martinc.720]

As opposed to figuratively wishing?

[@jop4112]

You can learn for yourself. Khan Academy is free. Miacademy is free on KZbin

[@Dwafiz]

Pretty sure I would have logicked/mathed my way to correct answers on those three literacy questions in high school, but I definitely wasn’t financially literate. Not a great metric. I didn’t understand how banking, credit cards, loans, insurance, checks, etc. worked. Whatever I learned about that came from asking my parents questions, and them being financially literate. Not everyone has that, and often remain uncomfortable with or unaware of options.

[@blueblousedesigns]

I took Economics in high school, and I went to school in Macon, GA

[@XavierGuillaume]

My high school offered lots of business classes and I took accounting and financial management. We learned about credit and debit and how to do our taxes, how to do a job interview, etc. do high schools not normally offer financial management? Or is it the students just didn't take it? It was an elective for us. But I pretty much took all my high school business classes.

[@Cthulhus_Mum]

I teach maths in Oz. We explicitly teach financial literacy to the lower levels, but the top level maths kids are expected to just pick it up by osmosis (we teach them percentages and exponential graphs and expect them to make the leap themselves). To an extent this works. I could certainly have passed the “financial literacy test” from the start of the video without explicitly being taught any of it - though “mutual fund” would have been a word guessed (correctly) from context. But I remember getting completely bamboozled by a salesman when I was 18 - who claimed my savings on tax would be higher than my loss to interest if I bought my fancy new laptop on a lease. I was 18; I was earning $13,000 per year. I was NOT paying 47% in tax, which was the figure he quoted to show me how much better off I’d be. I was smart and had good mathematical knowledge, but not being taught some stuff explicitly still made me a giant mark. I try to cover that stuff for my students, but what lessons did I *not* notice learning the hard way?

[@EdwardM919]

I remember learning about this but it was all on one day probably in an hour long class. It wasnt an actual course.

[@an237251]

The honest truth kids now a days don't take anything serious. Even if the classes are offered or even considered mandatory 95% of the student will not care. I know this because back when i was in high school they offered an accounting/finance class to all the seniors. And out of 500 of my graduating class only like 15 of us took it. Bow those same people are complaining they are in debt because no one taught them about money management.

[@ft9kop]

I am forever thankful to Mr Kowlakowski for introducing me to financial literacy in my Marketing class junior year. He introduced us to the stock market, set us up in a mock stock market competition, IRA, loans, mortgages, and so on. He didn't need to bring up these topics, but he spent time through out the year educating us in these topics. He was our principal's friend and came out of retirement as a favor to him to fill in for our original teacher who fell ill with a long term disease. Kowlakowski was already old when he had him, I wonder how he's doing these days

[@justaction]

I got the answers right but I still don’t think that I’m financially literate😂

[@amandasunshine2]

In Utah, there's a requirement for financial lit. Unfortunately, that didn't really teach me much

[@LearningwithLani]

Financial literacy needs to be taught starting in elementary school. I’m a middle school math teacher and my favorite part of the year is after state testing when I have a little more freedom to teach financial literacy in an engaging way, not just so students can answer simple and compound interest word problems or saving up for college questions. My students who would ask “Why do I have to know this?” throughout the year were most engaged during these lessons because they understood the importance themselves.

[@SS-wi4tm]

If I had only known about compound interest when I was 18. I did study it, but I didn't understand it. Also budgeting.

[@fadethechannel]

The easiest answer: because America, Inc wants you to be in debt to the corporation. Debt is the shackle to the land. Of course they don’t want a public growing up learning about credit and interest rates. What fun would that be for banks?

[@MadameCirce]

I've definitely been one of those who has said I didn't get an education in financial literacy, but this video is correct in reminding me that I did absolutely get at least some amount. I distinctly remember a year where we all had to pretend to invest in penny stocks and track our gains/losses. And I also do remember being taught how to write a check, which must have been around that time too. But that's all I can recall, any other lessons in that realm were not retained.

[@RetroGirl1967]

My school did the Stock Market Game in middle school. Each of us picked 3 stocks, divided the money equally between the stocks, and then tracked their performance/our portfolio over the course of the year or semester.