Financial literacy courses

Financial literacy courses are an excellent idea. But the design of financial literacy curricula could become a fierce fight between real experts and those imbued with the sales culture of the financial industry.

Economist Bob Shiller of Yale advocates government-sponsored financial advice for those who can’t afford to pay for it in his recent book "Subprime Solution". The presumption is that it would have prevented people from taking on more debt than they could afford.

The big problem about teaching financial literacy in schools will be how to agree on a curriculum. The better part of the information currently dispensed by financial advisors is of extremely low quality, designed to sell products and maximize revenue rather than to correctly inform the public.

Much of the conventional wisdom of “experts” in the field is either wrong or meaningless. So the courses really can’t be designed by the major financial services houses (at least most should be disqualified).

And if popular authors such as Robert Kiyosaki were regarded as experts then financial literacy courses would train people to go deep in debt and flip houses—as his book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" did.

So while financial literacy courses are an excellent idea in principle, how good they are in practice will depend on their content—and therein lies the danger.

Comments

[Mario Lopez]

Michael,

Good afternoon. Although the possibility of witnessing "incomplete" financial literacy programs offering probably not enough help to students to learn correctly what money management -and particularly debt- means, on the other hand (allow me to disagree a bit with you), I can see a bigger threat for them not only in the short term but in the long term: as they lack concrete money management skills, there's a bigger risk of getting more indebted which has been happening for many college students.

I've learned about some controversy in high schools as to how to develop efficient financial literacy programs but on the other hand, if those guys and gals are not guided on a urgent basis, well, I don't know if we could also witness a new wave of bankruptcies.

Is this the "Worst Case" scenario? I hope not.

Kind regards.

[Scott Moriarty CEO and Co-Founder of Thwakk!!]

This is an extremely interesting topic, however it seems to be a recurring one. And though I do not advocate a government controlled initiative, (government invariably will make it too bureaucratic) I do think government sponsored entity's such as the JumpStart Coalition and NEFE have begun to lay the framework for more objective educational concepts.

The issue to me is providing education in a format for youth that is consistent with the ways they interact with the world. As much as this may be disconcerting to many, text based solutions do not resonate with the younger generation. Additionally, getting curriculum in a format that educators (teachers who them selves often are poorly educated in this topic) can use in a classroom, and establish measures to monitor success becomes a massive initiative as well. There is no shortage of education material (perhaps a justification for standardization, though JumpStart is the source most excepted and can be used by any developer) it is the format and consistency with which the curriculum is delivered that becomes most crucial to success

Until financial education is made as standard as math, science and language arts, then all of this is a moot point. And though the momentum is growing, (18 states require at least some financial education and 3 require at least one dedicated semester) until we make it standard for all students, then the next generation will be no better off than the last.

Great conversation....

[tenis nike]

of “experts” in the field is either wrong or meaningless