Thinking back over my days in high school, I remember the presence of some character in every class who was constantly asking the teacher, “How will this be useful for me in my life out of school?”. No matter the class, no matter the situation, the question would arise, to the disbelief and annoyance of the teacher, who never really gave an answer.
What a great exercise it would be, to find out what exactly turned out to be useful from each class, and in which cases those troublemakers were right. In other words, what have I actually used to get ahead in life and which class did it come from? However, that exploration will be left for another time. There is one subject which would obviously be useful for anyone in any career or vocation, one that should be taught in every school, but for some reason never is. The subject is Financial Literacy, something we could all put to excellent use.
Financial Literacy as a subject in school would be a course examining the impact of certain decisions on your finances, encompassing major and minor decisions. Basically, the goal would be to arm students with enough knowledge of the financial world that they wouldn’t go out and make the foolish mistakes that drive so many people to financial ruin every year. The curriculum would go in the following direction.
Week 1. Are you being scammed? Students would be shown how to spot a scam and avoid it. It will prevent a variety of mistakes.
Week 2. Will you be able to pay back the money you borrow? The second part of the class would help students figure out if borrowing money for business or personal use is a smart idea. Credit card debt, mortgages, and other loans would be discussed. The idea would be to give students a concept of cash flow and how to service a debt, while exploring tax benefits of debt.
Week 3. Asset evaluation. Students will have a chance to evaluate assets. What is an appreciating asset? How is that different from a depreciating one? Earning assets will be covered along with consumables. Defining one’s net worth is a series of decisions and students will see which choices will give them hope for the future.
Week 4. Investment strategies. Any investment you take has a number of consequences and risk potential. Students will be given the tools necessary to tell what a risky investment look like. Also, when the signs point to a winning gamble, they should be ready to pull the trigger. Although it takes a good amount of courage and a little recklessness, great investments can turn a life around.
Week 5. How leveraging investments works. Getting into more advanced material, students will learn how investment portfolios use leveraging to their advantage. The tax breaks possible would be included in the discussion, giving students the ability to use the tax code to their advantage.
Final phase. At the end of the course, the student would try and make it all come together. There would be a layout of common mistakes and how to avoid making them. The ways to use the law in your favor and how to protect yourself would be covered. Finally, there would be suggestions on how to work with whatever types of finances you have to create the maximum amount of wealth.
Damian Papworth understands that you don’t need mutual fund investments. Having learned some simple strategies, you can be your own investment manager.