Schools are detrimental to the wealth mindset

CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/select/how-kids-learn-about-money/#:~:text=Kids%20start%20to%20mimic%20what,mom%20and%20dad%20spend%20money , wrote “I believe the number-one behavior children learn from their parents is spending habits,” Mac Gardner, certified financial planner and author of “The Four Money Bears,” tells Select. “It’s one of the first financial behaviors children pick up at an early age.” The article went on to say “Whether it’s what parents buy, how often they buy things or whether they look for deals, children are watching just how their mom and dad spend money. Some experts even believe that this is one of the biggest financial patterns kids adapt early on.”

Consumer finance - https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/heres-why-childhood-is-an-important-time-to-learn-about-money/ wrote “ U.S. teenagers are in the middle of the pack when it comes to financial literacy, compared to other nations. Preparing young people for a solid financial future is an important job. And much work remains.

If you have kids, it might surprise you to know that children as young as five years old can be ready to learn about saving and spending. From early childhood to young adulthood, you can build the foundation to enable them to manage their finances as adults .

Teenagers can practice financial skills and decision-making. As they manage their first paychecks, and the spending and saving choices that go along with them, parents are still a sounding board. Listening and providing guidance to your teenager can provide a safety net, so that he or she can learn from experiences and mistakes (let’s be honest, there are bound to be a few). Young adults learn financial skills more and benefit when they have opportunities to make their own financial decisions, while still receiving guidance and feedback.?

Money rates - https://www.moneyrates.com/research-center/financial-literacy.htm wrote “Some states have personal finance requirements while others don’t and, among states that do have personal finance requirements, the nature of the programs differ. Judging by the ever-increasing level of debt across the nation, there is still a lot of work to be done to educate people so they learn how to make progress toward their financial goals.” The article went on to say?

“Personal finance education isn’t a quick fix. In addition, it can take time for educational programs to broadly affect behavior in the general population. As a result, just eight states have had personal finance requirements in place since 2009.

Another possible explanation for the mixed results is simply that some states have more effective programs and perspectives need to change. Perhaps the strongest conclusion to be drawn from all this is that putting personal finance requirements in place is just the start of the journey, not the finish. Educators must continually check the performance of their programs and compare them to the programs in states that are getting better results.”

Robert Kiyosaki, noted best selling personal finance author, said (i'm paraphrasing ) that schools are detrimental to a wealth mindset. In my experience as an educator, every student is not prepared for high school algebra. Too many schools assume students are prepared for 9th grade algebra just because the student graduated from middle school. The middle school just passes on the "problem child" who has difficulty with math. The school no longer has to deal with the student because the student is now someone else's problem. If a student hasn't mastered fractions, multiplication and division, algebra becomes very overwhelming. Because the student is not prepared for algebra, math becomes 45 minutes of torture every single day for 4 years! Robert Kiyosaki said "Accounting is possibly the most confusing, boring subject in the world, but if you want to be rich long-term, it could be the most important subject." The emotional torture of learning math is the reason many adults AVOID accounting in their businesses and even in their daily lives. The financial numbers become a reminder of failure at school.?

Robert Kiyosaki knows that schools are failing students by not educating students on math of life. In addition to algebra for students who are proficient in math, there needs to be math for life for students to understand basic accounting principles. Bank statements are based on credits and debits found in accounting. Many adults can't read a bank statement because they haven't been exposed to the language of accounting. Financial literacy requires one to accept the mistakes of their past AND have the confidence to move on. Unfortunately, teaching algebra, geometry, algebra II and calculus for college advancement instead of math for life means?schools will continue to fail the majority of students. The failure in math breaks their confidence and this affects the students’ ability to learn outside of school. Therefore, where is the confidence to move on from a financial misstep like a death in the family, car accident, divorce or a lay-off?

As CNBC pointed out, in many families, the financial habits of the parents are passed down to the children. Those financial behaviors are not challenged in school because there is no financial literacy curriculum nor math for life. Financial literacy is a life skill. Therefore, technology is now the teacher for the adult community. Online platforms like Skillsoft, Coursera, Udemy, etc are filling in the huge gaping holes in education. Which brings us to the next learning problem. How many adults know how to search Google?