As children grow into young adults and become personally responsible for managing their own finances, have you ever thought to yourself why the subject of ‘personal finance’ is not required coursework in school?
Why are we expected to have the basic knowledge on taxes, money management, insurance needs, estate planning, retirement accounts, and credit, if education on personal finance takes a back seat to all the other subjects taught in school?
In most communities, it also seems that personal finance is a taboo subject ‘off-limits’ for discussion with family and friends. Many people are fearful or ashamed of their own personal finance skills and do not want others to learn of their perceived weakness. And most people don’t want to be labeled as ‘broke’ or a ‘millionaire’ or a ‘fool’ by their peers because of their own rewarding or poor financial decisions.
Since financial literacy is an important subject that is neither taught in school nor is it acceptable to be openly discussed among your friends, where can you turn to for advice that is specific to you? A Certified Financial Planner…and that’s us.
If you have children or young adults that could benefit from learning the basics on personal finance, let me know. You can bring them to your next meeting, or we can schedule a 20-minute one-on-one. If enough people want this, we might even hold an evening event to accommodate everyone.
Ignorance is bliss, but not when it comes to making smart financial decisions. Ignorance (or lack of knowledge) is actually the death knell for personal wealth!