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Essay on financial literacy
Essay on financial literacy
Advantages and disadvantages of financial literacy
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Smarter Balance Essay-Financial Literacy Financial literacy is a much needed, extremely valuable course that should be added to all schools’ curriculums. Unfortunately, students and adults alike today often have no idea how to deal with financial matters and manage their money; something should be done about this. Students should leave high school with a good idea of how they are going to handle their money in order to live a prosperous life in the future. Adding a financial literacy class requirement just makes sense. The purpose in high school is to teach us how to survive adult life, so why aren’t we learning about one of the most important aspects of it? In order to make sure students are successful later in life, we need to teach …show more content…
They believe that these classes will just be a waste of money on a class that won’t properly prepare students for the real world of finance. Some claim that, “they may actually hurt, in part by making their graduates overconfident about limited skills” (Burns). Some believe that students who attend high schools with required financial classes won’t learn as much as is intended, and will leave high school with too much confidence, and will end up making rash decisions. They claim that the classes are just a waste of time and money, because many students wouldn’t even pay enough attention to them to actually learn anything. People also claim that, “we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that adding a household finance class to a high school curriculum will in itself create knowledgeable consumers who can understand today's wide array of financial products” (Thaler). People claim that adding one mandatory class won’t help, and that it doesn’t even touch upon what students need to live an adult life. If students are only required to take one of these classes, they won’t learn even near to enough. Financial literacy classes are refuted by many, even though the data highly supports these
Once high school ends, most students progress to college after a year or two from graduation. Due to all of the expenses for textbooks and etc., the student might realize that they don’t comprehend what to conserve or spend their money on to get through their years of college which will leave them clueless on what to do next. With situations like this that might occur, all high school students should take a financial literacy class as part of the mandatory course in order to get a diploma. With a numerous amount of students not having enough knowledge about how to manage their money carefully, presumably they’ll have trouble living their life as an adult. Taking a financial literacy class would help students stay out of debt, they’ll be prepared for their future, and they would recognize the discrepancies between wants and needs.
Most kids that have graduated high school have never been educated on the subject of personal finance, so they don’t know things like how to pay bills, or even how to do something as simple as applying for a job. According to a family friend of mine, Ron Hart; who happens to also be an award-wining author and TV/radio commentator, believes that students in high school don’t learn anything about how to get a job or get prepared financially. He states that, “ Students should prepare for a job. Maybe, instead of taking a fifth field trip to the Trail of Tears site, do one to learn about real jobs in an area they might want.” Hart believes that most basic high schools aren’t teaching students how to become financially stable for their future, which can cause major issues. He claims that “few schools teach about the value of hard work, ingenuity, gumption and entrepreneurship. Those lessons are as rare as Donald Trump bumper stickers in the faculty parking lot.” Hart also goes on to talk about how high school does not prepare you for life the same way college will. There are so many more lessons to learn there that people are missing out on. College is very important due to the fact that it will teach students more skills about finance and job seeking that most high schools don’t. In college, kids will learn how to save and budget their money, pay for their own expenses, and prioritize their needs verses their wants. Learning financial responsibility is also something that kids will carry with them throughout their jobs and their life. Having more freedom to understand the concepts of person finance will allow students to make mature decisions while easing their way into real world
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
In schools where financial literacy courses are foreign, for example, students as well as teachers may find themselves lost and confused. In Document A, 64% of teachers K-12 reported being unprepared or “not-well qualified” to teach finance. These problems have been outspoken by several critics, such as in Document B, where Burns cites that high schoolers that took a semester-long personal-finance course tested worse than those who did not, and that some feel math or statistics would be much more useful than finance. It’s hard to refute evidence such as this, but subjects can be changed, revamped. Much like we add new things to history when events occur, or science when research proves a new theory, we can improve financial literacy by how the world economy moves. In the digital age of commerce, we can adapt and change our system, much like Thaler in Document C advises, promoting In-time education when needed, simple rules of thumb to create everyday knowledge, and user-friendly support on the Internet to digitalize finance. In an age where you can know the time, temperature, and weather of London at any moment, from anywhere around the world, why should we not be able to ask how to save, when to save, where to save, or whether we're overpaying on a house or car? Those who deem studies on present financial literacy evidence of it being useless and a waste of money must understand that the subject is not set in stone. We will experiment, shift, change, and one day, we will find the right
Why has learning become so important? Students go through various years of learning and studying to get an education and ultimately have a good career. To reach the goal of earning a career, students must pass from one grade level to the next level of learning until they graduate. As students spend year after year in school, they are supposed to take in the new knowledge and build upon what was learned on previous years. But after graduation. what happens to the countless years of learning? The only thing left to do is to use the knowledge that was learned and use it for the better good of the community. College should help students understand that their career not only will determine the size of their paycheck, but more importantly, exercise
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.
Somewhere in America a parent is asking their child what they learned at school today, the child will most likely say that they didn’t learn much. It is sad to say that with today’s education system, this is true. The K-12 school system has oppressed students far more than it has liberated them, and this must change if America wants to produce members of society that actually have something to contribute. Students graduate high school having learned how to play the “game” of school leaving them grossly unprepared for college. Students should leave high school with a base of knowledge and strategies they can employ to succeed in college if that is where they wish to go, but instead they come to college knowing how to line up quietly and copy
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.)
As young adults start their high school years, students do not think about what that means in the real world. In real life, we have to work, manage our money, and think about careers. For a lot of high school students, may I dare say most, they do not have a clue about what it means or what to expect as an adult. The high schools should be offering more real world classes as electives or extra classes that can be taken. High schools should offer classes on how to apply for a job and how to file taxes. High schools should also offer more opportunities for students to leave school with more real world experience. Today students are only pushed through the system. Students are not given enough information and enough opportunities upon entering and throughout high school. We need to produce more productive members of society.
The purpose of a high school education is to prepare one for college and ultimately, the workforce. By the end of freshman year, in high school, the average student has learned a sufficient amount of material in enough subjects that he or she can be considered "well-rounded" in his or her studies. This is because the rate at which material is covered in schools, across the nation, has increased dramatically compared to the past. Students now learn more advanced curriculum at a younger age, and this continues to become more evident year after year. High school has now become more focused on teaching students a small amount of information on several essential subjects, rather than having them focus deeply on the subjects they seek to pursue in their career.
Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and author, claims that the rules of high school aren’t the rules of life (Source 3). Students around the country excelling in the classroom may have little to no life skills. The American educational system should be concerned with molding students into responsible citizens and preparing them for their life outside of school. Instead, students are subjected to excessive testing, resulting in children that lack creativity and the ability to think independently (Source 7). From personal experience, high school gives students no insight to the work world they will soon enter. The current educational system in place across America leaves students ill-prepared for the life that lies ahead of
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
High Schools make the effort to prepare their students for life as an adult. Classes are given to teach students how to manage their finances and avoid living paycheck to paycheck. However, a textbook will never provide a real, hands-on experience. In order to create a desirable learning experience, a combination of knowledge and wisdom is essential, accomplished through
The second lesson concentrates on the importance of financial literacy. There is one rule to follow so as to understand financial literacy – “Know the difference between an asset and a liability, and buy more assets.” In order to do this, you need to be able to understand and comprehend numbers instead of jus...