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Students may get a financial primer

Bob G | 4:53 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Why aren't these concepts taught in High Schools like they used to? Isn't that what High School should be doing, preparing student to enter the real world of personal finance and be a part of the working community? Just what are students being taught in our schools, how to succomb and be loyal ahteist to government? No student should be allowed to have credit cards while they are students. They learn their bad financial habits with no guidance or input to the dangers and financial woes of credit. Credit is treated as a candy bar dangling in front of students just for the taking and they have no idea what it's about. These financial problems are the product of greed by unscrouplous financial organizations. I think parents assume their children are getting financial advice on personal finances while in high school but it's very apparent they are not. It should be a required subject for every student with a min grade before any credit cards can be issued to a minor. Then any credit card issued to a minor and without financial instruction or training is at the risk of the issuer, not the parents.

Anon | 6:13 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

It is about time. While the basic curriculum is important (reading, writing, math, history, etc.) almost nothing will make peoples lives better than making sound financial decisions. Everyone has to deal with money, yet no one teaches the basic skills, and if they do they stop with how to balance a checkbook, nothing about saving, investing, mortgages, and especially credit cards.

Anonymous | 7:03 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

This sounds like a great program. As I try to help my high school son with his math, I have thought that I have never used It since I was in High School, and I have a doctorate in a science related field. They are expected to do Trig and Calculus, but they can't balance a checkbook. My eighteen year old daughter asked her older sister how much a school teacher makes. When sister told her they started at about thirty thousand, she asked if that was per month.
I really like the part about envolving the parents, so we can reinforce what is being taught.

Comments continue below

Andrew | 7:08 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

This is a great idea! Good job Sen. Jones!

Parents? | 8:22 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Sounds like a great idea. However I can't stop thinking that my PARENTS taught this to me.

Seems like more and more of the parental responsibility is getting pushed off on the teachers. Of course I guess many parents don't know how to use their finances either....

Anonymous | 8:31 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Bob G
This is being taught in the high schools, more than ever. It is a course required for graduation, which it never was before. In a nutshell, the problem in Utah is that 1.) kids get married young 2.) want everything mom and dad had 3.) borrow based on 2 incomes 4.) start a family 5.) drop down to 1 income. I see it time and time again.

Vincent | 9:09 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

I think the root of the problem is that the "righteous" live on the east side, live in a starter mansion (if not an outright mansion), and have things. They also look nice (the cause of all the plastic surgery discussed earlier in the week). If you live on the west side of the valley, drive a >4 year-old car, and live in a plain house you are somehow less righteous. If you were righteous the Lord would have blessed you with more money. So, these kids feel the need to spend money to maintain a righteous appearance.
Obviously, there is a lot more to it than this, but I think it is a big factor.

Great! | 9:57 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Thanks to Sen. Jones for her work on this issue. Even if the topic is being covered it never hurts to cover extremely important issues like this again and again. Obviously whatever is currently being done in school is not working.

Anonymous...how does getting married young or having kids have any real effect on this issue? I know plenty of "fixed" income retired folks who are struggling to balance a budget. I got married at 21 had my first kid at 22 and have always lived well within my means. My wife and I buy used cars, we rented until we could afford a small starter home and now we are living what I would call "the good life". Three kids, a great job, a masters degree, and guess what? Besides a reasonable loan payment for our house we have zero debt.

Great Idea | 10:04 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Wonderful concept. I think that in general the financial knowledge in our community is significantly lacking. A few really disturbing trends to note:

1) Mortgage/credit crunch/defaults. Painful, a lot of unknowledgable people out there, which is shocking when purchasing the most expensive thing in your life

2) The sheer lack of retirement planning with 401(k) and IRAs. Does anyone under the age of 40 believe social security will be there? Doesn't that scare you when you haven't saved a dime for retirement? Don't you know that if you do it early, the power of compounding can very realistically deliver $2-3M+ in money by the time you retire?

3) The general spending habbits of people to include the use of credit cards. This is huge. A few items:

a) we all know credit card debt and associated interest is painful - but yet we still do it
b) What people generally don't know is that credit cards have a psychological effect in that people are willing to spend more money for the same asset when using credit cards compared to using cash. There was an MIT study which concluded people were willing to pay 2x the price when using credit.

Schools raising kids | 11:12 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Once again, schools are having to do what parents should be doing. I guess, the problem is that many parents can't manage their own finances or they are not bothering to teach their kids properly. What would we do without our public schools that must increasingly do the work that parents should be doing. Quit trying to be friends to your kids, people, and start being parents. Make friends with your kids when they become adults.

my two cents | 11:27 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

I'll add my support to programs that try to teach financial responsibility. It's obvious from our bankruptcy rate that too many parents have no clue. I work in the financial field and I see too much totally moronic behavior when it comes to personal finances. Getting the parents involved will help the parents as well as the children.

Parker | 11:50 a.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Thank you to Sen. Jones for making this a prominent issue.

The management of personal finances is a basic skill that all young people should have, and it is truly applicable to their post-school daily life.

It is my belief that uncontrolled debts, and other financial problems, are a large cause of strife, depression, and personal pain for many individuals and families. Having more financially responsible and knowledgeable citizens is better for the community as a whole.

It is great if parents can teach these lessons as well, but if they struggle with their own finances, this trend shouldn't be perpetuated to the next generation. Teaching these basic life-skills in school makes total sense.

DIEHARDUTE | 12:11 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

In response to "Schools raising kids". In this case, it's not asking schools to teach kids what their parents should be teaching them, but to teach them valuable skills that a lot of parents don't have. A lot of parents out there didn't go to college, and had to learn what they do now about this subject on their own. And in a lot of cases, the hard way.

I applaud Sen. Pat Jones for her efforts to have these skills taught to our school children

School Counselor | 12:19 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

They have to already take a financial literacy class that teaches these very skills that Senator Jones proposes. If you think that this is new trust me it is not. The State Core Curriculum for Financial Literacy covers this information but like anything else in education remember this. It can be taught in our schools but does that necessarily mean it will be followed/utilized by our students? Probably not. They will just watch mom and dad and do the same stupid stuff that their parents do. Monkey see monkey do.

Belgie | 12:41 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

This can't be covered in one semester???? The main principle that people need to abide by, by which 90% of financial problems could be avoided, and that everybody knows but nobody follows is simple:

Spend LESS money than you earn, not more.

All the other important details can EASILY be covered in a few days. A semester is already overkill. The government is hoping to somehow make kids responsible by having them sit through years of finance classes. It's just not going to happen.

Reality | 2:28 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

The financial literacy curriculum already covers these important topics. Adding more class time is not going to do the trick. Students are taught and told they should not spend more than they make, they don't care. Instant gratification is a difficult desire to wean especially with the role models out there for all to see and covet. Something must be done but this financial primer won't be it. Look at all the abstinence education we teach, saying it more often and louder isn't going to change it's effectiveness, or lack of. It's an honorable attempt and I have no solutions so I yield to your efforts.

Sarah | 2:33 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

While I think this sounds like a great idea in theory, has anyone looked at the facts? A recent study shows that kids who took a financial class in high school actually scored lower on a financial compentency test than kids who did not take a class. Also, studies show that children best learn financial principles in their homes with their parents. So, just exactly what are the parents teaching? I suppose if bankruptcies were so prevelent perhaps parents need help teaching their kids, but I don't think requiring a class is a real solution to a much bigger problem.

My Two Cents Too! | 5:03 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Not going to work. I took a finacial class in college and really it was an interesting class. I was required to take this class in order for me to graduate. Everyone in my college took this class. So just as the school counselor said...you can teach them how to take care of money but THEY have to apply it. The fact is that Daddy and Mommy have not taught them how it all works. I grew up in a poor family. We didn't have new washer/dryer. We didn't have nice dishes. We didn't have new cars.
They are getting married and go into debt right away because they continue the lifestyle that they had when they were single.
Fact, they have to change their lifestyle.

sij | 6:56 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

"More young people filed bankruptcy than graduated college" ?!?! Does anyone else question this statistic? That seems absurd to me, Is this in Utah or across the nation? Off all the people who graduated from college we had more who filed bankruptcy? How about a clarification Deseret News.

Mark | 9:42 p.m. Dec. 20, 2007

Thank you Sen. Jones for supporting my wife and I as we try to reinforce this with our 3 teenage boys. These are lifelong principles and values that need to be taught at home and school at the same time, to help make them stick. There is so much financial mismanagement happening today which is costing the nation plenty; and much of it stems from basic a misunderstanding of budget management, credit, and personal responsibility, to name a few. I for one want my kids engaged in this type of classroom learning, as it can only improve the quality of their lives. Excellent work!

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Students may get a financial primer