Unbelievable......(well, maybe not so much)
- Thread starter bbfreeburn
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9andaWiggle
Addicted Member
Not surprising. I'm not really sure how I learned to budget my money and keep my bills paid... I don't recall my parents, nor school, ever sitting me down and explaining it all. It's no wonder there are so many in financial trouble... because I'm sure my experience is the norm and not the exception.
That said, I admit we carry more debt and have less retirement savings than we should. But the credit score is great! Everybody wants to loan me money to buy more pretty, shiny things...
That said, I admit we carry more debt and have less retirement savings than we should. But the credit score is great! Everybody wants to loan me money to buy more pretty, shiny things...
9andaWiggle
Addicted Member
I remember some exercises in class (elementary school) where we learned how to count money and write a check. I don't recall any classes explaining how interest, credit, or investments work - which IMO should have been (should be) mandatory around maybe the Jr/Sr high year.
There are a few more "real life" classes I think should be taught in school, since so many parents fail to teach it to their kids. I guess there was "Home Ec", but all I ever heard about that class was girls baking cookies and knitting sweaters in it. A couple guys took the class, but for the most part it was presented as an all female class. I wasn't interested in knitting and baking, so I took stuff like the small engines shop class instead.
I wish they'd have had a class that presented a timeline of major household expense costs (home, mortgage rates, autos, insurance, utilities, food, etc...) with historical costs. Figured inflation, and presented a future timeline of estimated costs we could expect as we go through our lives. Including salary information for certain professions, as well as instruction on what education is needed (ROI of education cost vs avg. salary) and how to network with professionals and work towards advancing your career once you land the job.
So much of this stuff seems to be trial by fire. Here, we'll teach you how to read, write, and do math, but after that you're on your own! Good Luck!
We can do better, IMO.
There are a few more "real life" classes I think should be taught in school, since so many parents fail to teach it to their kids. I guess there was "Home Ec", but all I ever heard about that class was girls baking cookies and knitting sweaters in it. A couple guys took the class, but for the most part it was presented as an all female class. I wasn't interested in knitting and baking, so I took stuff like the small engines shop class instead.
I wish they'd have had a class that presented a timeline of major household expense costs (home, mortgage rates, autos, insurance, utilities, food, etc...) with historical costs. Figured inflation, and presented a future timeline of estimated costs we could expect as we go through our lives. Including salary information for certain professions, as well as instruction on what education is needed (ROI of education cost vs avg. salary) and how to network with professionals and work towards advancing your career once you land the job.
So much of this stuff seems to be trial by fire. Here, we'll teach you how to read, write, and do math, but after that you're on your own! Good Luck!
We can do better, IMO.
9andaWiggle
Addicted Member
She spent a lot of it on clothes, a trip to Europe, etc... Sound like she probably could have stretched it to cover her 4 years of tuition, but she refused to get a job to pay for other expenses. Oh yeah, then she got upset her parents wouldn't give her more money nor cosign a loan unless she got a job, because her dad "has been working, like, a million years and has retirement money."
Entitled brat.
AlwaysWrite
Addicted Member
Perhaps she's considering a job in American politics, spending money given to her with no regard to going into debt and continuing to ask for more.