High School Financial Planning Essay

In high school, typical American teenagers learn the history of our country, what the meaning of SIN is, and how to annotate classical English literature. As varied as education from school to school is, there are specific guidelines that every state adheres to, yet the education that is given is still lacking. Teens graduate knowing how to find the height of the right triangle when they are given an angle and the opposite side but an important life skill is not taught — how to manage one’s finances and do their own taxes. If a teenager chooses to go to college, they have to tackle the troubles of student loans, and later, student debts. The reality of the situation is that students arriving in college still rely heavily on their parents

The National Endowment for Financial Education High School Financial Planning Program (HSFPP) was set up in the 1997-1998 school year, used either at the end of the curriculum or three months after. High schoolers evaluated from that program were shown to have a higher knowledge in financial literacy, self-efficacy, and saving rates, but at the cost of a meticulous teaching plan and evaluation at the end. What the Consumer Bankers Association found in 2002 was that not many of the programs were evaluated by the banks, leaving really only 35% of the programs effective, that is only if the students managed to complete the program. (Fox, 2005) There are some states that have created that financial education as part of their school curriculum mandate. In a study conducted to see the difference between students in schools with personal financial education and the ones that did not live in a “mandate state,” Bernheim, Garrett, and Maki found in 2001 that there was more of a positive effect on the students that had financial education. It reflected in their saving rates and net worth by the time they were 35-49, or their peak earning years. (Fox,