April is Financial Literacy Month – Appreciate the Benefits

In the case of financial literacy, change is good. I want to just recap all of the things the website brings up as benefits to sticking with the plan.

If you stick with it:

• A sense of accomplishment
• less stress and anxiety
• setting a good example for your family
• build a secure future
• improve your creditworthiness
• appreciate the things you have already bought
• avoid legal problems (always popular!)
• ready for financial emergencies
• feel more in control of your financial situation

I have been really impressed with Financial Literacy Month and it’s website and tools. I think this is great stuff for people that didn’t learn it early in life, or just a refresher course for those that are more knowledgeable.

In a previous article, I mentioned that I would share my thoughts on this as a mandatory financial education tool for high school students. So here it goes.

If you read these articles, you can see how these basics would make sense for everyone. We teach high school students home economics. However, I think it should go farther. Classes covering english, physical education, history and math are all important, but don’t you think that every student will deal with money, credit and saving?

I really believe that personal finance should be a mandatory class all four years of high school. In the freshman and sophomore years teach basic money management with checking, savings and an intro to credit. Moving to more advanced topics of retirement savings and how the economy actually works in the junior and senior years.

Instead, financial literacy is left up to parents, or for young people to figure out for themselves. More often than not, the parents don’t have a clue about personal finance topics themselves. So bad habits get taught and passed along. Would you have rather taken a class on credit cards and mortgages rather than Geometry?

Well this concludes my series of articles about Financial Literacy Month. I hope that you have learned something, shared something, and feel more empowered about your money.

Are you ready to make some changes? You know the drill by now….write me at david@lexwealth.com, or call me at (859) 225-2596.