My Money Education

I submitted the following short article to Money Magazine about a year ago.   The article didn’t get published,  but it was my first try submitting any type of article to a magazine.  I thought I would share it as this week’s blog.  I strongly believe that basic finance should be taught in our schools.

I recently retired after working over 30 years in the financial services industry.  As I look back over my career, one of the things that struck me most was my experience when I volunteered to teach elementary students about money.    Growing up, my Dad read the newspaper at the breakfast table and would occasionally mention a stock or two during the meal.  As a result when I was in my 20’s, I bought some stock and regularly deposited money into a savings account.   I also helped my Dad, a small business owner, with his books and assisted with the accounts posting.   Although I didn’t realize it at the time, this exercise gave me a basic understanding of finance and investing as an adult.

My husband and I didn’t buy toys for our nieces and nephews when they were children, instead we bought shares of Disney stock for almost all occasions in their younger years.  As a result, they all had custodial accounts that were growing in value and available for them when they turned of age.  I remember when my husband and I took our niece and nephew to Disneyland.  My nephew Scott, who was about 10 years old at the time, asked me, “Aunt Cindy, do I own a ride in Disneyland since I own stock?”  I believe I told him he owned a pebble in one of the paths in the park since he didn’t have that many shares.  My point is that he was beginning to understand the power of investing just as I had when my Dad discussed stocks at the breakfast table.

It is amazing that basic finance isn’t taught in the schools.  What I noticed when I volunteered in a few of the San Francisco elementary schools was that many students were completely oblivious to how money or investing works.  Some students thought everything they wanted was a “needs to have” no matter what it was.  Many of the students who caught on immediately to what my colleagues and I were teaching, were generally children of small business owners.   One young man in the fifth grade especially stood out.   I asked him how he knew so much and he told me his parents owned a restaurant and sometimes he helped on weekends.

Because I was exposed to “money talk” growing up, it set me up for prudent money management during my lifetime.  As a result I invested in a 401K, IRAs,   brokerage accounts, and real estate.  Now that I have retired, I am in good shape financially and ready to enjoy my retirement.  Teaching the basics in school is a great start to creating a good financial future for our children, both throughout their working careers and retirement.  I have read of too many people nearing retirement who have not saved and planned for retirement at all.    Thanks to my Dad for setting me up for financial success.  I hope in the future our schools will do the same by teaching basic finance and thus setting up all students for financial success.