Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy 101 {Infographic} – Take a Quiz

Financial Literacy 101 infographic

This week my girls had Spring Break, so I’ve been enjoying hanging out with them. They are now 8 and 10 years old. I can remember when they were just toddlers and I started talking to them about money. It seems like yesterday. šŸ™‚ The one thing I do know is those conversations have made a huge difference in all of our lives.

This week I shared with you the first step to becoming financially literate is setting goals. It seems almost too easy and simple but achieving what you want, begins with knowing what you want. Even a financially responsible person will struggle to make good money decisions when they don’t know what they are working towards.

I also debunked another popular myth or common reason for not teaching kids about money. You don’t need to be financially literate to start teaching kids about money. You can learn together! It can be scary sharing your money skeletons with your kids, but you do them a greater disservice by letting that be your excuse for not talking to them about money. Being prepared to make smart decisions with how we use our money is key to our long-term financial well-being. I can’t tell you how many times people tell them they wish their parents would have talked to them about money, including sharing their money mistakes.

Financial Literacy 101

Instead of my usual weekly round-up this week, I decided to share a great infographic on financial literacy. What I found particularly interesting was how many parents gave schools an F in financial literacy. That itself wasn’t particularly shocking as financial education isn’t widely taught at most schools, but I am curious as to how they would grade themselves when it comes to teaching their children about money.

This infographic includes a small financial literacy quiz to test your knowledge. If you’d like to see how you compare to high school seniors who took the 2006 JumpStart Financial Literacy Quiz, you can take it here. See if you can their beat their average score of 53%. šŸ™

Financial Literacy 101 Infographic

Share Your Thoughts

I would like to see financial education taught in school because I believe it’s as an important topic as reading, writing and arithmetic. With that being said, I also don’t believe the sole responsibility of teaching kids about money belongs to schools either. What do you think? What should schools teach? What should parents teach?

Shannon

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April 11, 2014  •  10 Comments  •  Financial Literacy

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Comments

  1. Friday, April 11th, 2014
    I think financial literacy, as well as well as things like programming should be taught to a greater extent in schools. After all, things like financial literacy are extremely applicable to every single student's life after school. I think other things like programming or being able to use software should be stressed much more because they are skills that employers are looking for and the better you know how to use software, work with data, etc. the better. Sadly I didn't learn much at all of this (or financial literacy) in my formal education, and it wasn't too long ago that I was in school.
    • Shannon Ryan
      Friday, April 11th, 2014
      Financial literacy is absolutely applicable to every student's life and one the main reason's why I think it's so critical we teach it in our schools and homes. Seeing more practical applications in our school systems would definitely benefit kids. So much is learned outside of school.
  2. Friday, April 11th, 2014
    Nice infographic Shannon! Cool quiz as well. I think it should be both schools and parents teaching about financial literacy. In terms of what would be taught in schools, I've always imagined them covering the basics of budgeting, avoiding debt, balancing a checkbook, credit usage and investing. That would dovetail with the more practical and actual living out of those principles at home. This would allow children to see what they're learning in action with responsibility given at the appropriate stages. Have a great weekend Shannon!
    • Shannon Ryan
      Friday, April 11th, 2014
      We're on the same page on what we would like to see. I believe both schools and parents play key roles in teaching financial literacy. And I think it would be easier to incorporate financial literacy into a lot of current curriculum too. I believe the practical aspects of financial literacy - seeing it action and how our values and goals play a role - are the things parents can really excel at. You have a great weekend too!
  3. Friday, April 11th, 2014
    I agree that financial education should be taught in school. I don't think I've ever taken a class on basica financial matters at high school or even college level.
    • Shannon Ryan
      Friday, April 11th, 2014
      Sadly so few kids have the opportunity to take any type of personal finance class in high school or college. Yet, money is something every single student will handle. And their ability to handle it well probably has more of impact on their financial well-being and overall success than some of the other courses they are required to take and pass.
  4. Friday, April 11th, 2014
    I definitely think personal finance should be included in our curriculum some where. I remember having to take a life science class in junior high where we learned about cooking and meal prep. Seriously, I think we spent an entire week learning about muffins! Why not include some basic information about how to BUDGET for those meals and grocery shopping? I think the life science courses would be one class to squeeze in personal finance education. Maybe they don't make kids take those types of class anymore though : )
    • Shannon Ryan
      Friday, April 11th, 2014
      I agree, Liz! That was definitely a missed opportunity. We all handle money and we all have to buy food. It would be an easy and appropriate place to discuss budgeting and planning meals around sales flyers and how to use coupons smartly.
  5. Saturday, April 12th, 2014
    I would love to see schools teach the basics, such as how to balance a checkbook, make a budget, etc, the power of compound interest, etc. Then, kids would at least have the basics down, even if parents chose not to expand on that at home. Great graphic, Shannon!
    • Shannon Ryan
      Monday, April 14th, 2014
      I agree, Laurie. I'd love for them to cover the basics because at least kids would have that knowledge if their parents don't talk to them about money, although of course, we hope they do! I believe parents can teach them more about how to think about money in relation to their goals and values … the real life application.
Shannon Ryan SHANNON RYAN, CFPĀ®
  • Meet Shannon

    "As a Certified Financial Planner, it is my passion to help individuals and families build a healthy relationship with money. I look forward to helping you raise financially confident kids.ā€ - Shannon Ryan