The amount of times I hear from friends, “I have no idea what to do with my money” or “what’s the best way to save money”, is eye-popping.
But is it entirely their fault?
There are a number of memes floating around the internet about how it was nice to “learn about the inside of a plant cell” in high school, but maybe we should have been learning about how to do our taxes instead. Throughout middle school, high school, and college, students are often reminded how they are “being prepared for the real world.”
But in my opinion, many students finish
their education with little-to-no “real world” experience when it comes to managing their finances.
Back in high school, “Personal Finance” was an elective class. Too bad it was not mandatory. I chose to take two semesters of the personal finance class, and it proved to be somewhat helpful in the long run.
It’s the nature of a business administration degree program to include classes on taxation, finance, and economics. However, if students are not enrolled in business-related majors, odds are they may not be exposed to anything finance related. And this is starting to prove costly for many ‘millennials’ — and even those in older generations as well.
A basic personal finance should be a MANDATORY course. Personal finance classes should be offered in middle school grades and in high school as well. Basic personal finance should also be available for college students as well.
Regardless of what folks do 
for a living, they will ALWAYS need to have basic skills when it comes to managing their finances.
Learning how to create a sound budget, allocating certain parts of your income to pay for expenses, and tips regarding saving money are all basic skills everybody should have!
Many people believe they are not making enough money to live the life they want. But the truth may be if they learned how to manage their income (along with better budgeting), they could be in a better financial situation. Or at least have some peace of mind.
Having financial peace of mind doesn’t necessarily come with having tons of money. It can come from simply not having to worry about paying your bills, and knowing you have enough to survive.
It is truly a shame school programs don’t see the need to prepare their students for the real world of paying bills and managing their money. Considering all the different routes high school students could take, the one constant is they WILL need money in their life, and they WILL need to know how to spend/save it wisely. Whether you work a 9-5 desk job or you’re an entrepreneur doing your own thing, your life will be significantly better if you know how to do basic financial tasks like open a savings account, establish a line of credit, and complete and file a basic tax return.
Common sense financial planning is something we are very familiar with at Mullooly Asset Management. We are more than happy to answer questions you might have regarding money management and financial planning. We can help you set up a game plan moving forward.
In the future, I hope personal finance courses are incorporated into required courses of high sc
hools and colleges. But until then, we have you covered!