Confession: I was that weird kid in middle school who wanted to invest in the stock market.
But with that said, it doesn’t mean there aren’t things I don’t like about it. And I think the following reasons sum up why most young people don’t, or can’t, learn about personal finance.
1. It’s Boring.
I won’t lie, a lot about personal finance is boring. Saving a bit from every paycheck isn’t very glamorous and it takes time to see results from saving and investing. This doesn’t fit well into most teens “gotta have it now” lifestyle.
2. Parents Don’t Make it Easy.
I love my parents, but they’ve never had a heart felt one on one conversation with me about money. I learned how their own finances worked through guesswork and being nosy, a.k.a. looking at documents I wouldn’t have be allowed to otherwise. I’m not exactly proud of this, but what can I say? I was desperate for information.
I think most parents just think that they’ll teach their kids about money later. But later never comes, or if it does, it’s after the kid has accumulated thousands of dollars in credit card debt. By the time high school rolls around, kids should have an accurate picture of the family’s finances.
3. There’s Too Much Time.
This is probably what I hate most about personal finance. It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of “I’ll do this later.” This trap is made worse for young people because we think we’ll be fine if put everything off until we have a “real” job. Then once we have that real job, we say “OK, I’ll start managing my money more carefully when I get my next raise”. And the cycle continues until it’s too late.
4. It’s Complicated.
You could spend years thinking about decisions, but never making them. Personal finance covers a huge amount of material: saving, spending, investing, insurance, education, careers, jobs, and retirement just to name a few. Expecting a high school student to know where to begin is a bit naive.
5. No or Low Income.
Young people don’t usually have high incomes or allowances, so the thought of saving a bit doesn’t exactly excite us. It’s easy to say “I can’t practice personal finance because I don’t have any finances to begin with.” This is actually why I’m a huge fan of teens, college students, and basically anyone increasing their income through other means. Once you do this, you have money to cover the fun of being young but can also put some away for the future.
At the end of the day, I really think the problem is that no one has made personal finance an important issue for high school and college students. Adults tend to dance around money issues when kids are involved and then we’re left to guess how everything is supposed to work.
