Dollars and sense - financial literacy in schools

About a year ago, the US Federal Reserve reported that 40% of Americans did not have $400 available for an unexpected bill, while 12% would be unable to pay an unexpected $400 bill at all. Current projections are for this to become even worse. Clearly externalities are significant in this, however schools and the education system are not without fault. As well as Reading, Riting and Reck'ning, we should be teaching financial literacy.
Typical definitions of financial literacy center on money management such as budgeting, tracking spending, borrowing and debt. These topics are easy to include in a school program, for example PK - K classes can learn about dollars and cents, prices and change, "Do I have enough money to buy ...?" and the basic economic principle of resource allocation.

Elementary students can begin to budget, to learn about bank accounts, saving, checks and credit cards. Non-numerical aspects can easily be incorporated such as advertising, hidden fees. Student banks can be set up, local banks or credit unions can come and run games; often they have materials to donate and I have never met a bank manager who is not willing to provide deposit and withdrawal slips and free pens.

Middle school students can learn about interest, amortization, the stock market, retirement funds and of course success and failure stories, bubbles, the 2008 GFC, the 1924 collapse and Dutch tulips.

Most of these topics, especially the numerical, are essentially a number of skills. They can easily be incorporated into a competency-based program, while their "what if / what happens if" nature translate directly into an inquiry-based approach. They provide the content or subject matter for any program which is not content-defined, and even in this case, a unit on the Romans can include a class or two on adding and subtracting in their money system, buying grain or furnishing a villa or transporting a cohort from A to B.

However, money management is not enough. The key word is literacy, understanding what you see, hear and read. Financial literacy programs at school should also include what is needed to be a successful consumer such as understanding and analyzing advertising, claims and facts, marketing and selling techniques, targeting and micro-targeting, scams and traps. Every student needs to know how to read a mobile phone data-plan and credit card agreements.

These areas are easily incorporated into humanities and language arts / literature programs. The scientific method can be usefully applied as a research tool to investigate any offer or claim. Even Physical Education can look at aspects of sports management, athlete contracts, or how professional sports operate.

Financial literacy is key to avoiding problems such as those mentioned in the opening paragraph, and schools have a responsibility to prepare financially literate citizens both in terms of money management and consumer success.

**Please leave your comments and queries below.**

Further reading

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial-literacy.asp

https://www.opploans.com/oppu/articles/why-is-financial-literacy-important/

https://www.fastweb.com/student-life/articles/the-5-key-components-of-financial-literacy

https://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/financial-literacy-for-kids/