Time for more personal finance education

Earlier this year, Connecticut legislators debated whether a law promoting the teaching of personal finance to the next generation of high schoolers should be mandatory in the state.

They agreed that financial literacy is key to ensuring the economic futures of state residents. But they worried that making coursework a requirement would result in school districts pushing back over the increases in costs for books and other learning resources, as well as teacher training.

In fact, that has been a national concern, but it’s one that has been removed by nonprofit organizations like mine that provide free curriculum and professional development.

In Connecticut, 822 teachers have accounts with my organization, Next Gen Personal Finance. So there is already an army of passionate teachers who know what learning students need the most, and they’re not waiting for legislation to change in order to provide it.

Since 2007, the legislature has tried several times to pass financial literacy standards for schools, and each time those efforts have failed. With so many free resources available, and with the need for financial knowledge and skills even more critical than ever, it’s hard to see why anyone would oppose such a law.

Fortunately, state Treasurer Shawn Wooden, who has stated that improving the financial literacy of Connecticut residents is a priority for his office, has proposed House Bill 5434 to include personal finance in every high school, and to ensure guaranteed access to all Connecticut students before they cross the graduation stage.

This bill would be an incredible improvement in access to financial education because as of this writing, just 18 percent of students in the state are guaranteed access to a personal finance course before graduation. Life after high school may or may not include college for all students, but it certainly will include complex financial challenges and choices for all.

We cannot allow four of five teens to enter adulthood unprepared or underprepared for taking on student loan debt, credit card debt, car leases and/or mortgages. We must show them not only how to understand and manage debt but we also must emphasize wealth building.

Those school districts that do offer personal finance are fortunate. But it often is the less wellfunded districts that shy away from offering courses. With cost no longer being a factor, there’s simply no reason for a lack of equity to exist in Connecticut schools moving forward.

I never had a personal finance course in my New York City public school education, and finances were never a dinner table topic with my family, as my parents immigrated here and worked unforgiving jobs to provide for us. They just never had the benefit of receiving any personal finance education.

As a scholarship recipient at Brown University, I managed to avoid piling up student loans. What I didn’t avoid, however, was poor financial decision-making, as I had no mentors to talk to me about money. I racked up $20,000 in credit card debt, and spent several years after college digging myself out of this debt but also teaching myself about personal finance.

Sadly, my story is not unique as there are thousands more with stories like mine, and all are destined to be repeated by the next generation, if we don’t act now.

We must embrace the task of preparing the next generation for college and careers, and I believe we must do our best to prepare them to make better and more informed financial choices than previous generations have made. There is high demand for this instruction and we need the state to help us increase the supply. I ask the entire community of educators, parents, advocates, students and you as readers to implore your state representatives and senators to vote favorably on House Bill 5434.