Not Teaching Money in Our Schools is Like Teaching Our Kids to Grow Up to Be Poor

tombirkenmeyercomIs the USA, like other countries around the world, moving closer to being bankrupt because 98% of the populations needs the government to take care of them medically and financially? What cultivated this kind of neediness and dependency in such a large lopsided segment of the population?

I can’t help but wonder if Money were taught in schools would poverty, and people starving to death, be problems all but wiped out?

I made a YouTube Video showing how changing just one thing can be enough to solve this huge problem: http://youtu.be/Vuj_07zwMBM

If money were being taught in our schools how would that help to solve some of our most crippling problems we have today?

One over simplified short answer could be because most people do not want to be poor. So if they taught money in schools they’d graduate with the skills needed to not be poor. And the ones motivated by giving would now know how to give the most.  Today most  kids attending our schools grow up to be poor and needy even if they straight A students.  Why are there more straight A students who are poor and needy after they graduate school than ever before in our history?  Getting As and Bs prepares students for the real world, right?  Maybe 30 plus years ago it did but not anymore.  Our schools have not kept current.  A student might learn a trade which might have paid great a long time ago, but, they are not learning about money which is more important than ever to learn if you want a to thrive in todays economy.  To not teach it, regardless of the major, is to not prepare for the real world of today, period.

Students graduate thinking getting a high paying job and building a big savings account is “money smart” all the while those things wipe them out from taxes and inflation.  Most people believe their house is an asset when it’s a liability, they believe mutual funds and IRA accounts have tax advantages when they suffer the absolute worst losses due to taxes etc…  Confusing liabilities for assets and not having a basic understanding of taxes is a recipe to be poor and that is what’s happening.  The only reason this happens, and that presidents can get away with the promises they make, is because they do not teach money in schools.

What does learning about money do for students who are born into a poor family?

Learning about money can teach someone not to be poor anymore if they don’t want to be poor anymore.  Hear me out.. Some people born into poor get out while others stay there.  That’s not to judge anyone there are very good people in all financial classes.  Where one starts does not have anything to do with where one ends.  Faithfulness in what you’ve already got has everything to do with where you end.  Rich people end poor just as poor people end rich.  Without being taught about money people who start rich often end poor and people who start poor stay poor.  Without being taught money people confuse liabilities for assets which wipes them out, they elect presidents who make promises they can’t possibly deliver on, their biggest expense will be taxes (particularly the middle class on taxes the poor don’t feel this nearly as much), and much of their choices will be oppressed and dictated by money.

That’s just the tip of the ice berg of the consequences of not knowing about money.  Not knowing about money hurts both you personally and our country as a whole because it runs on money, or more accurately, currency.

The fact that the of the evil known as poverty is out of control is one of the Big reasons why learning about money is so crucially important. When a poor person learns about money they will figure out how to cross over from poor to rich. To not teach poor people about money is cruel. I personally am living it. I didn’t know I could turn zero dollars into a little bit of money, and then turn a little bit of money into a lot of money until I Learned about money. We are taught the inexcusable lie, “You need money to make money”.  How is one supposed to know this is a LIE of one does not know about money?  Knowing money is crucial to your success it is not enough to be an expert at your trade without any knowledge of money and have a safe secure future.

I had no idea that I could actually use Taxes and Debt to get ahead. I always thought taxes and debt took money out of peoples pockets. For most people that is true but that is because they are not financially educated so they don’t know any better.   Without financial education we believe these things. When I learned about money I was no longer poor. Our schools should be teaching money.  It’s a shame they aren’t because it lead to our most crippling problems in our country and in most peoples lives.

It’s the love of money that is the root of all evil, not the money without the love of it.
I don’t study money, personally, because I love money. I study money because I love people and solving problems. Without knowing money, whether we like it or not, we can’t solve our most crippling problems both personally and globally.

Have you enjoyed this? Was it helpful in breaking some circular thought patterns you might have been stuck in? Do you know anyone who could use this? Sharing is caring. Share with friends and family.

– Tom

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