Improving financial literacy: Two approaches

Posted by Marc Hodak on July 7, 2010 under Economics, Patterns without intention | Be the First to Comment

The first approach is counting on government to do it from the center, as reported a few weeks back:

Don’t laugh, but Uncle Sam wants to teach you how to manage your money.

Tucked into the new financial-overhaul bill that Congress is working to finish is a new Office of Financial Literacy to help consumers learn about savings, debt and credit scores.

There is an obvious irony in a debt-laden, budget-challenged government offering financial education. But there is a deeper problem: While nearly everyone agrees that Americans of all ages and income levels could be more financially astute, no one has a good plan for making it happen.

(Raising my hand.)  Oh, I have a great idea!  Choose me!  Choose me!

Why not just ask all those government run schools to teach financial literacy alongside reading, writing, and math, and before inorganic chemistry and trigonometry.  If a school really wants to go whole hog, they have only to look at a great example of what works.