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Strengths and weaknesses of financial literacy
Impact of financial literacy
Impact of financial literacy
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Recommended: Strengths and weaknesses of financial literacy
Topic: Colleges should have personal financial education courses
Opening/Attention:
Several families during the last year have had issues managing mortgages and foreclosures. Every year, debts continue to increase from credit cards and cutbacks and/or downsizing creating job losses. Though the reasons may be complex, the main factor for these issues is financial illiteracy for many people. Several studies through a financial literacy survey show that adults and youth know little about financial concepts. Through a study done by Lusardi and Tufano , only “35% of respondents figured out that making minimum payments to the interest payment on outstanding credit card debt will never eliminate debt”. If schools implement financial education to
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Almost 1 in 5 Americans between the ages of 18 to 24, in 2001, announced bankruptcy, in accordance to USA Today. Accumulated debt is the significant factor to most bankruptcies, which makes people at the young age of 15 to be on the possible road to bankruptcy.
b) In a report from the Federal Reserve displays 53 000 student credit card opened in 2008 and 2 million student credit cards by 2009. It is now easy for students to get into debt with agreements between the banks and colleges. Every year, more students are paying for tuition, schoolbooks and other expenses with credit cards.
c) Several students in college between the ages of 18 to 25 have a minimum of one credit card. However, by graduation, half of the students will have 4 or more credit cards with a balance of over $3000 on average. If there was a financial literacy course included in colleges, students would graduate with less debt.
Spoken
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Schools can be the solution to this issue. We have always trusted teachers with helping our kids understand words and numbers, so we can be guided by them for financial literature.
Bibliography
Awesome Free Ed Tech Resources eBook! (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://www.emergingedtech.com/2011/04/10-reasons-why-schools-should-be-teaching-financial-literacy-to-our-kids/
I Can’t Make My Student Loan Payments: A True Debt Story. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from https://www.4pillars.ca/blog/i-cant-make-my-student-loan-payments-a-true-debt-story
Northwest, N. (2015, November 9). Financial literacy: 5 tips for taking control of your money - British Columbia - CBC News. Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/financial-literacy-money-saving-cash-finances-taxes-1.3309891
The Navigator Online - Directions and Trends in Higher Education Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
Taking a financial literacy class would help students learn how to stay out of debt. According to the article, “Finance Course Prompts Debate” by Gina Davis, the class would “cover concepts such as money management, consumer rights, and responsibilities,
Carneval, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce agrees that going into debt until you’ll be earning more money is the way to pay for your education. “The only thing worse than borrowing is not borrowing and not going to college at all,” stated Patrick M. Callahan, president of the National Center for the Public Policy and Higher Education. Lauren J. Asher, President of the Project on Student Debt group, states that the financial risk has increased. Ms. Asher points out that more students graduate with at least $40k in student-loan debt, “People lose control of their finances, and sometimes they make choices you wish they hadn’t made.” Darla M. Horn, an organizer of the student-loan-debt art show in Long Island City, NY realized she hadn’t been aware of how much money she had borrowed while in college. Referring to herself as financially illiterate, she found herself “just signing the documents and faxing them
Credit card debt is one of this nation’s leading internal problems. When credit was first introduced, and up until around the late 1970’s, the standards for getting a credit card were very high. The bar got lowered and lowered to where, eventually, an 18 year-old college student with almost no income and nothing to base a credit score on previously could obtain a credit card (much like myself). The national credit card debt for families residing in the United States alone is in the trillions (Maxed Out). The average American family has around $9,000 in debt, and pays around $1,3000 a year on interest payments (Maxed Out). Many people have the concern today that these interest rates and fees are skyrocketing; and many do not understand why. Most of these people have to try to avoid harassing collecting agents from different agencies, which takes an emotional and psychological toll on them. While a lot of the newly recognized “risky” people (those with a doubted ability to make sufficient payments) are actually older people who have been customers of certain companies for decades, the credit card companies are actually consciously targeting a different, much more vulnerable group of people: college students. James Scurlock produced a documentary called Maxed Out on this growing problem, in which Senator Jack Reed of (Democrat) of Rhode Island emphasizes the targeting of college students in the Consumer Credit Hearings of 2005
Personal Finance Essay Many students in today’s world believe they need to take out student loans for college. I believe you don’t have to take that path. Student loans are hurting many students who attend jcollege, and I believe that the loans should stop. Any student can get through college and be debt free at the end.
It seems odd that so many people say that they their credit card debt is nothing they worry about. When people have been filing bankruptcy more and more. In 1991, the rate of 25 years and under that filed for as rose to 50%. Maybe this has to do with so many Universities and Colleges allowing banks and credit card companies to hound financial uneducated students on campuses with promises of a free calling card or hopes of winning a plasma TV for their dorm room.
In my opinion, what you are being told in high school is only half of the story, once you are in college you realize that you will have to face a financial DEBT, which among students seems to be rising and we are overwhelmed with repayment after graduation. According to studentloanhero.com there is 1.26 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt and there are 43.3 million Americans with student loan debt; these are crazy numbers, which in my opinion shouldn’t be that high and we should formulate a plan to lower the numbers.
To start, one considerable solution to help with student debt is working and saving. At this point in life, saving money is an easy strategy due to limited responsibilities and bills. Since many students are not yet independent in terms of living expenses, they are “reall...
As college students now, we know how important it is to know about how to avoid debts because many of us are or will rely on student loans to get through our higher education. Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy used national data to grade each state in the United States on how much effort is put into providing financial literacy for their high school students. Based on the information gathered in 2015 only 5 states obtained a letter A grade on their financial literary education; these states are Utah, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, and Virginia. These states require their students to take between half a year to a whole year of a either general financial literacy or personal finance. It is unclear how the student achievement is measured after taking these courses, but the resources to learn about what to expect are provided and are required to be able to graduate from high school, which cannot be said about all other 45 states in our country. 11 of the states were given a letter F grade, including our beloved California. These states do not offer finance classes alone or embedded into other courses. Although the achievement of students who take these courses is not exactly measured after graduating it is still significant information for them to carry with them into their adulthood. Many high school graduates will enroll in a community college or a 4-year university and will be targeted by credit card companies because they lack the knowledge on how important credit is and how to avoid debts. This is not only a worry shared by the graduating students but by the parents as well. MasterCard gave a survey to its cardholder members and 64 percent of these adults said they were worried that their
When starting college every student must make a very important decision. Whether if they want to get financial aid or to pay the money up front. Having college debt will not only ruin their credit, but he or she may also have to pay off their tuition for the rest of their life. Research says, “According to the College Board, which tracks students’ financing of higher education, undergraduate students in 2013 through 2014 borrowed in the aggregate nearly $63 billion and received $33.7 billion in Pell grants.” By this quote from “Debt, Merit, and Equity in Higher Education Access” it clearly shows the effects College Debt has on their society, but also on their educational future. Every paycheck they receive, a small portion goes toward paying
One might say there is a strong argument for the requirement of financial literacy for students in America. Americans continue to have increased balances on their credit cards as well as show a continued increase in bankruptcy filings according to statistics. Even the “baby boomer” generation is no longer exempt from financial hardships, as their generation has recently taken the title of “Fastest Growing Bankruptcy Demographic” from the 25 – 34 year olds (Linfield, 2011). Would it not make sense to say that Americans need to learn how to budget and borrow more wisely? Would not the best place to start be in schools? Well, the answer to that question is not a simple one.
Today’s college students are bombarded with ads, commercials and mailings telling us that we need to spend money to be happy. At the same time, many of us come to college very ill-equipped to handle our finances. Financial literacy, defined as "the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage one's financial resources effectively for lifetime financial security," is important in our money matters as well as academic performance. Based on your understanding of financial literacy and experience (or lack thereof) of personal finance, 1) pick two personal finance topics (including but not limited to: credit cards, student loans, budgeting, saving, banking, and investment, etc.)
Numerous amounts of people have financial problems when they get out of high school, so what should the school board do? In 2007, thirty-four out of fifty states have personal finance courses in their curriculum (Bernard 4). A financial literacy course seems to be what a majority of states are doing. Financial literacy courses have their pros and their cons just like everything else. Financial literacy courses bring up some very important questions.
One way our school could accomplish the goal of financial literacy education is creating a set class for high school students towards the end of their high school career. Offering classes in a curriculum that is set helps kids become better prepared for the real world. They receive a better understanding of what it is like having a great deal of responsibility, without the overwhelming of stress that comes with it since the class would be set in a classroom. According to the article written by Laura Langemo from Fox6 entitled “MPS Eighth-Graders Get a Lesson in Financial Literacy”, the Milwaukee Public School District Superintendent Gregory Thornton states, “We need [students] to be ready financially. We need them to be ready to step into the world and be able to actually navigate and manage money.” Students should feel confident after graduating that they will be capable of receiving such a great sense of responsibility. Teaching students about financial literacy at an older age throughout high school will allow them to be ready for their lives ahead. According to this article, many of the students were surprised with how bills amass in such a rapid pace. Similarly, the article from the Sandpiper by Edie Ellison includes information about being able to offer high school students classes in
In that year, the number of college graduates was only 432,058 (Sourmaidis) and ever since the demand continually increased as did price. This trend allowed for the student loan crisis to occur, which is a problem we face today. As of 2016, American students have accrued a massive 1.3 trillion in student loan debt. Just 10 years ago, the nation’s balance was only $447 billion (Clements). This ever-present cumulative burden has caused many post graduate Americans to delay important life events such as marriage, homeownership and children because of this substantial encumbrance (Clements).
The lack of knowledge plays a big part in the debt young people are getting themselves into. Credit cards are often offered to young adults as soon as they get out of high school. Many take advantage of having a credit card without even thinking about the responsibilities that come with it, instead they think about the things they will be able to buy. In “Generation Debt” the author Tamara Draut says that young people are getting into debt younger than ever before. Two of the reasons that are more costly on young students that hit hard on the budget are car repairs, and travel for students who have families and friends in other states (231). From my experience I know first-hand what it was like to be offered credit cards right out of high school, and I didn’t hesitate to get any of them. I st...