With inflation numbers and interest rates soaring, it’s more important now than ever that schools give the general population the financial education they sorely lack. 

Public schools do a fine job of giving students their basic education and teaching them the skills needed to be employable. 

But they more often than not neglect to teach them what to do with their money after they work hard for it. 

If you ask a randomly assigned group of people, most likely they will say that they contribute their wealth into their 401k or Individual Retirement Accounts and have their employers match them, but that’s all a large majority of them ever do.

They work hard all their lives, saving up their money in a retirement account so that hopefully when they retire and pull their funds out they are able to live off that sum until their passing, the “American Dream.” 

Most people will agree that this is what you are supposed to do and that it is a smart plan, but there is so much wasted potential with this mindset. 

For a lot of people it may not even work, depending on the cost of their lifestyle. 

The problem with this is that as the U.S. dollar continues to be worth less, the money that these people are saving in their bank accounts and retirement accounts may not even be able to keep up with inflation. 

Schools need to take responsibility for the long-term wealth of students and teach them more ways to invest in their futures. 

The number of people today that don’t even know what a financial statement is alarming enough in itself.

According to businessman Keither Cuningham in an article by Tony Robbins, “‘Only 50% of business owners get financial statements, and 3% read them.’”

Average people will spend eight-plus hours a day working for money, but won’t spend fifteen minutes learning how to invest the money they earn to start receiving other types of income besides earned.

 With the financial climate, it may not be feasible for a lot of people to continue to simply earn money and spend it. 

It is important for schools to continue to raise educated and employable people, but it’s just as important to teach them what to do with their money as it is to teach them how to earn it.

For more help, check out our article from the Financial Corner about how to avoid stress during tax time.