Teenagers should be taught financial literacy

By someone far more intelligent than me

I heard someone say on a podcast the other day,

There are a few things that the public,

Pretty much as a whole,

Agrees are ineffective,

Not fit for purpose,

Or to put another way,

Broken.

And the example that this person gave was the education system.

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If you said to a friend that students should be taught practical skills in school,

Such as financial literacy,

They may respond to you by saying something like,

“No kidding,”

Because it has almost become a cliché due to how uncontroversial it is.

In this newsletter I am absolutely not going to give financial advice of any sort.

More than that,

I am not going to give even a financial opinion in terms of what you should or shouldn’t do.

Everyone has such diverse circumstances and money is a topic wrapped up in emotion for many.

Therefore,

All I am going to do is to explain how I viewed and learnt about money growing up,

And what I now do as a result.

If you want to take something from that for your teenager,

Or if it prompts you to think about your teenager’s financial literacy,

Then that’s great.

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Growing up

In terms of reality,

I grew up in what most people would describe as a middle-class family.

However,

I feel like my childhood was split into two halves,

And I think the perception of reality is what is most important here.

The first half I didn’t feel financial strain,

And the second half I did.

My families’ circumstances changed which ultimately led me to see money in a different way.

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During my teenage years I was always conscious of money,

(Like most people?)

I was,

And am,

A saver.

I was tight,

And I often thought about making money.

I felt that my family was under financial strain,

And for a time,

I didn’t quite understand why – This bit in a way was almost the most difficult.

If I am really getting honest here,

At that age I blamed both my parents for the financial strain that I felt.

It felt to me that we shouldn’t be in this situation,

Therefore, it could only be that it was the result of their own bad judgement.

This feeling lessened over time,

However, I would say it has only been a fairly recent development,

(I am in my mid-twenties),

That I have started to appreciate the macro-economic factors that make it difficult for 98% of people to accumulate wealth.

Now that I am thinking about building wealth for my future family,

I can really appreciate how precarious,

And sometimes unfair,

It can all feel.

But to the point,

I couldn’t appreciate this aspect when I was younger.

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Learning Financial Literacy

I am far from a financial expert,

Far from it.

However, I am interested in money,

And business more generally.

Whilst I now see people on my social media talk about investing everywhere I look,

I wish I knew about the magic of compounding interest sooner.

I wish I realised that you don’t need significant disposable income to start positive habits.

And I wish I knew you didn’t need to be an adult to start the process.

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The point of me mentioning this is not to make any specific recommendation.

I just want to make the point that I wish I had a more comprehensive understanding of money earlier in my life,

As I believe it would have made me firstly wealthier,

And secondly more understanding to my families’ circumstances growing up.

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I hope you all have a great week ahead,

Best wishes,

Joel