Investment planning in HIGH SCHOOL

**Frixxxx** · 08-04-2008, 08:48 PM

Ok, talked to my nephew and asked if he had taken advantage of the 401K pittance (part-timer in college). He said no. I was beside myself, I remember seeing red but asking in a calm voice, WHY?!?! He said he didn't see the use of putting $10-20 dollars a week that would only be worth $500, 50 years from now.

Can I say PRACTICE, a musician learns scales before they plays, even does them to warm-up. An athlete stretches his body before exerting themselves.

Why is habit-forming such an issue now and again? Why do we give kids "eggs" to practice parenthood, but not an "egg" for retirement? I could careless if my nephew can do advance trigonometry, if he is not learning a basic skill.

We give kids PE for their bodies and cut it off at 10th grade. A stupid semester of government. Home Economics? They sew a pillow or make a cake....NO ECONOMICS. We barely teach THE GOLDEN RULE, let alone the RULE of 72!

We wonder why we have an economic issue in this country? Untrained consumers. We all bargain hunt for things we need and want, right? No flashy package, just the black and white box please!

Where is that punky platinum blonde lady when we need her: "STOP THE INSANITY!"

Please, if you have any say in the education department, return to the basics.

BTW, article that set me off was this one ABOUT our educators and their decision 17 years ago:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1217...ost_viewed_day

**Silverbird** · 08-04-2008, 09:32 PM

Return to the basics?? Was basic finance ever taught, unless you took accounting in school? I had to teach other students while I was in college how to balance their checkbooks, they had no clue. That was over 20 years ago. Lack of financial training is everywhere, parents are supposed to teach it. Unfortunately not all of them know how to do it either. I think it should be part of basic math training.

In defense of home economics, even though I hated it, and took shop classes as soon as they were availble for girls, there is a use for "basic cooking". I know this after eating Freshman experment cooking by hapless students who didn't know how to read a recipie, or how to judge when their dinner was cooked, and set off fire alarms or served half-raw chicken bbq. No joke, it happened while I was in college on multiple occaisions. Some of my current (grown up) friends still can't cook.

Ditto for the egg carrying routine, having to care for something for a grade hopefully will make you more aware of the consequences of getting yourself a baby before your are ready. Kid-rearing is not a skill we get by instinct. How do I know? I have no kids, never had any child rearing awareness training, and have no clue what all of you with kids are talking about.

Jokes aside, I would have liked some idea what it's like as part of my schoolling.

**mamikin** · 08-05-2008, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Frixxxx

Ok, talked to my nephew and asked if he had taken advantage of the 401K pittance (part-timer in college). He said no. I was beside myself, I remember seeing red but asking in a calm voice, WHY?!?! He said he didn't see the use of putting $10-20 dollars a week that would only be worth $500, 50 years from now.

Can I say PRACTICE, a musician learns scales before they plays, even does them to warm-up. An athlete stretches his body before exerting themselves.

Please, if you have any say in the education department, return to the basics.

Frixx,

I can only say that your nephew is lucky to have you for guidance. I would venture to say that most people are not interested enough in economics to warrant offering it in secondary education. Plus, teachers spend most of their time remediating those who can barely read and write, then getting the rest of the students ready to pass the stupid state exams that are required so that the school can be funded. I do agree with your point about untrained consumers, though.

As both a parent and an educator, I believe it is up to me as a parent to ensure that my children are prepared economically. And I thank God everyday for the lessons my parents taught me.