The document argues for early financial education in schools, highlighting the absence of personal finance topics in curriculums despite their importance for life skills. It emphasizes four key areas of financial knowledge: earning money, managing it, investing, and donating, suggesting that these topics should be introduced at a young age to foster smart money habits. The author urges parents to take responsibility for teaching these lessons at home, aiming to combat financial ignorance and improve society's overall economic understanding.

1. THE STRONG CASE
FOR EARLY
FINANCIAL
EDUCATION
BY: ERICA HILL

2. WHERE DID
THE
MONEY-
TALK GO?
AS ANY PARENT
OF A SCHOOL-
AGED CHILD CAN
ATTEST TO, ONE
TOPIC THAT IS
CONSPICUOUSLY
ABSENT FROM
MOST SCHOOL
CURRICULUMS IS
PERSONAL
FINANCE.

3. IT'S NOT
IN CLASSROOMS
Despite the fact that understanding
one’s financial responsibilities is a
basic life skill, for some reason, it is
not only a topic that is rarely
covered in the classroom, but it is
one that is barely discussed at all
until adulthood, by which time it is
often too late to instill smart habits
for money management without
the added stress of having to apply
these lessons in real time to real
bills that are mounting by the day.

4. I am a strong proponent of the belief
that we should start to educate our
children about finances as early as
possible, thereby demystifying the
world of money management and
imparting valuable advice that will stay
with them for the rest of their lives.

5. ALL TOO OFTEN, THOUGH,
THE PROCESS OF GETTING
THE BALL ROLLING ON A
FINANCIAL EDUCATION IS
SO DAUNTING THAT
PARENTS DON’T KNOW
WHERE TO START. WHEN
WE TALK ABOUT A
FINANCIAL EDUCATION
AND DEVELOPING
FINANCIAL LITERACY,
THEN, IT HELPS TO BREAK
THE TOPIC DOWN INTO 4
AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE:

6. 4 KEY
POINTS
HOW YOU MAKE
MONEY
HOW TO MANAGE
THE MONEY
YOU’VE MADE
HOW TO INVEST
YOUR MONEY TO
TURN IT INTO
EVEN MORE
MONEY, AND
HOW TO DONATE
YOUR MONEY.

7. EACH OF THESE TOPICS
OPENS A DIALOGUE
ABOUT MUCH
BROADER ISSUES THAT
CHILDREN SHOULD BE
EXPOSED TO EARLY ON.

8. FOR EXAMPLE...
For example, if you’re teaching your child how a person makes
money, you can introduce her to the topic of work salaries and
how her paychecks will be taxed before she receives them.
When it comes to imparting wisdom about how to manage the
money you’ve made, you can use this opportunity to teach
your child about the importance of saving, how to financially
plan ahead for her future and why and how to avoid the trap
of falling into credit card debt.

9. AND WHILE INVESTING
IS OFTEN CONSIDERED
TO BE THE PURVIEW OF
THE RICH, THIS IS NOT
ONLY MISGUIDED, BUT
ALSO CAUSES MILLIONS
OF PEOPLE TO LOSE OUT
ON POTENTIAL INCOME
EVERY YEAR.

10. WE CAN CORRECT THIS
PERCEPTION BY TEACHING OUR
CHILDREN ABOUT INVESTING IN
THE FORM OF A GAME, WHICH
WILL BOTH DEMYSTIFY THE
PROCESS OF INVESTING AND
MAKE IT AN APPEALING
PROSPECT TO CHILDREN FROM
ALL SOCIO-ECONOMIC
STRATAS.

11. Finally, with financial education, we
have the power to raise future
generations who will view donating
to charity not as a luxury, but as a
mandatory component of money
management, thereby creating a
world in which charities and
nonprofits have a much larger pool
of funds to pull from to do good.

12. THE FACT IS...
The fact of the matter is, only time
will tell if these important lessons
are incorporated into school
curriculums. Until that day comes,
it is our responsibility as parents to
teach our children about finance in
the home if we want to re-shape
the way we as a society understand
how to manage our money and
put a stop to the financial
ignorance that is causing so much
of the world’s economic problems
today.

13. THANK
YOU
ERICAHILL.NET