PLANSPONSOR - November/December 2017 - 10

Survey Says
Financial
Ed in K - 12
Schools
SURVEYS reveal that many adults struggle
with basic finance such as how to budget,
pay off debt and, generally, how to build
savings. At the same time, one often hears
the lament that basic financial education
gets overlooked as a subject by schools.
Recently, we asked NewsDash readers,
" Do you think basic financial education
should be taught in K - 12 schools and, if
so, starting in what grade? "
The majority of respondents (95.8%)
think basic financial education should be
taught in schools. Asked in what grade that
should start, most (55.7%) said the elementary
grades (K - 5). Twenty percent said
Grade 6; 2.9% said Grade 7; 7.1% chose
Grade 8; and 8.6% chose Grade 9. Grades
10, 11 and 12 were selected by 2.9%, 1.4%
and 1.4%, respectively.
As always, all verbatim responses
reflect the opinions of individual readers
and not the stance of PLANSPONSOR or
its affiliates at Strategic Insight.
" I think that financial education is a
life skill along with cooking, sewing, home
maintenance and car maintenance. "
" Several states now require personal
finance education in K - 12. Notables are
Texas, Idaho and Georgia. "
" Even the youngest of children can be
taught financial education. Don't have to
start a first-grader learning about stocks/
mutual funds, but rather the concept of
saving, maybe the concept of interest. "
" By 10th grade, when kids are 16
and likely to have a job and be driving,
they should be able to manage a checking
account, understand how loans work, the
impact of credit, and how to create and
stick with a budget that includes short- and
" Teaching kids about money can't
start early enough. As I tell my kids,
'Money doesn't grow on trees!' "
long-term savings. "
" Not everything needs to be taught in
school. I love teaching my daughters about
finances, and abdicating yet one more thing
to the schools that parents should be teaching
(sex education!) just doesn't feel right. "
" We should hope to teach children so
they do not repeat the mistakes their parents
made. But, sadly, many parents will teach
their kids to make those mistakes by example. "
" Like many things, financial education
requires repeated exposure. Beginning
early with simple concepts and building on
them over time is the best way to make the
concepts stick. "
" Financial education for kids is going
to have to go beyond counting coins and bills,
because who carries cash today? You just
stick a card in a magic machine and, poof! "
" Teaching kids about money can't start
early enough. As I tell my kids, 'Money
10 PLANSPONSOR.com November-December 2017
Art by Julie Benbassat
doesn't grow on trees!' "
" When I was a kid, I was told I needed
to save for college, and the rule was: 'Save
half, spend half.' I was able to graduate from
college in four years with no debt. In fact, I
still had $2,000 left in my account! "
" The sooner the better. Most families
don't talk about money. "
" I had no idea when choosing to go to
college that they would loan you more money
than you would ever be able to pay back, and
neither did my parents, who had never gone
to college and only had a mortgage. "
And the Editor's Choice goes to the
reader who said, " Just like English, math,
science and social studies requirements, there
should be mandatory classes [to graduate] for
home economics. " -Rebecca Moore
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PLANSPONSOR - November/December 2017

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