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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (1184)	12/13/2001 1:49:29 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

why isn't personal finance taught to all high school students? I used to wonder that myself especially because I found myself taking personal finance classes as an adult, after having run my own business for years and realizing that I lacked an understanding of how credit worked. Those classes that covered investment, savings, insurance, estate planning and the time value of money were fascinating to me only because I was completely ready to receive them. If I'd been taught these things in high school I think I would have been bored to tears. Most of what people are taught about how money works comes from their parents so this puts kids who come from homes where the parents have poor financial understanding at a distinct disadvantage. I hate to say it but you are up against a general disinterest in all things financial in high school but more than that there is a great deal of discomfort in talking about money and wealth in this country. When I'm trying to help friends get their financial house in order I find an extreme reluctance to talk about their dealings with money. Its almost as if people would rather tell me about the intimate details about their sex life than admit to what is on their household balance sheet. I don't know if this reluctance could be overcome by teaching the nuts and bolts in high school because so much of it comes from a deep seated belief that your self-worth comes from how much money you have (or don't have). Americans have a completely dysfunctional relationship with money and it starts at a very early age.