As a volunteer I’ve taught basic budgeting and gone over basic elementary school math concepts with my students. I don’t get tired of it. If it’s what my students need to know, I provide it to them. You can’t get exasperated or become too jaded at people’s ignorance. I think of it as coaching and teaching them how to think about their money because a lot of times, folks come to the class not ever having someone sit down and actually bring it all together in a cohesive way.

I’m not sure just how much I got thru to these kids, but I think I made an impact on some of them, if only by example. For instance… when asked what kind of car I drove, the kids were shocked (mortified might be more like it) when I said I drove a beat-up old Japanese economy car. This did not compute. Here I was, a model of success, a college-educated high-income professional, a ghetto kid who made it out. Wasn’t I supposed to be driving a tricked out Escalade (or whatever the 1990 equivalent was) to command the respect of my peers.

As we talked thru issues like the cost of being an adult, living on your own, and the concept of budgeting and planning for things like a home, a car, an apt, marriage, kids, retirement, etc, I think they slowly started to catch on, like a fog lifting, that things didn’t work out there in the real world quite the way they thought.

Whether or not they got any practical skills out of it, I don’t know, but if they were listening, some of them certainly got some of their assumptions turned upside down.

In one memorable session, we were doing mock job interviews, and I critiqued one of the interviewees by pointing out that using street slang in an interview could cost him the job oppty. Ohhh man… this kid piped up in angry indignation, that this “was simply not fair,” followed by an uproar of agreement from the class. THAT was a “lite bulb” moment for me. THIS is the baggage they will carry with them out into the world when they graduate from this place – not just the lack of skills, but the attitude of entitlement. These were hardly priviledged kids, quite the opposite, but in a way, their complete isolation from the main stream made them extremely myopic.

I think being able to have these kinds of frank and open discussions with teenagers in the right setting, is critically important. Even if they don’t get the specific PF skills, somebody has to show them that what they see on TV has little bearing on reality.

Honestly, I think that one of the major reasons so many people are screwed up PF-wise, is that they never reconciled the lifestyle they see on television and in magazines with reality.

As a woman teacher back in the 70’s I was asked to attend classes in the automotive dept. to see if we could get any women in the class. I did! I earned a mechanic degree as I pursued that on my own because it was so good and fun.

I worked on my car frequently on things I could work on (strength & expensive equipment issues). I tought my husband and he helped with strength. When I no longer wanted to spend the time and could afford to pay someone to do repairs, I knew exactly what was wrong with my car at all times, what needed immediate care and what could wait, and learned quickly to choose a good mechanic who told me exactly what was wrong with the car and what could wait. I got from mechanics list of thousands of dollars of unnecessary repairs needed and also those lists that were honest.

It helped me choose a good mechanic. Whenever I had work done on my car, I knew exactly what entailed repairs, how much it should cost, degree of difficulty etc. And called the mechanic on it each time things went out of line and won!!
(Didn’t pay)

I only wish I had taken classes in finance back in the 70’s, I have had to learn that on my own. And I have paid for not knowing, just as others have paid huge auto repair bills when unnecessary.

Now, not everyone is going to get out of classes what I got out of them, but I taught many people how to fix their cars or advised if they were getting a fair estimate. Including last winter in a snow storm at work when 1 of our corp owners car wouldn’t start and no one knew how to jump it–I did!! And got HIM on his way to the dealer for repair. Safely.

I regret that people don’t have the opportunity to learn, some will, some won’t–as a former teacher this is usually true. But because 1 person doesn’t learn doesn’t mean that the other 25 should not.

I have a hard time working on cars now, they are hi tech and with computers and electronic ignitions need special equipment. But the basics stand. I learned enough to know what I do know, what I don’t know and when I need to consult a professional.

It is the old 80/20 rule.80% will get SOMETHING out of the class, 20% little if nothing. How sad a college prof would deny anyone a learning experience.

Question: What’s so bad about financial education?
Answer: It doesn’t work…

Well I have seen a litany of studies that argue otherwise. Not only that but I too teach a personal finance class as a volunteer and refuse payment for my service. I am not involved in financial services and just get a kick out of helping others get out of debt. Meet people around town that tell me they have paid off credit cards, cars and in 2 years my wife and I plan on buying a house with cash, I just turned 30. My wife and I killed 3 credit cards, 2 cars & $50k in student loans all because we took a personal finance class & learned to sacrifice. Before the class I had little interest in personal finance and knew little about it. If the classes and education do not work then Lauren Willis needs to come up with an explanation of how my life and the lives of many others I know have changed after taking some classes.

I have some of these issues in my own family.

I salute you for your efforts.

Apparently, things you and I take for granted, in terms of comprehension, are way over the head of some people. True financial education has to start way at the bottom with earning money, paying taxes, writing checks, balancing check books, basic household bookkeeping and paperwork, etc.

I hate to admit it, but it seems that part of the subprime mess was truly caused by people too eager/stupid/ignorant/embarrassed/unaware/trusting to sign a mortgage. They believed the thief who told them they could afford to buy a home even though you and I could look at their finances and see the opposite with our eyes closed.

What’s frustrating is that companies think WE’RE COMPLETE IDIOTS! I regularly see a commercial where someone is buying a car and getting a rebate and her one line is “I’m going to pay off my student loan!” She’d use the money to pay down a low interest debt rather than the higher interest vehicle loan.

You don’t have to be able to pick stocks, but you need to know the basics.