Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Karly Devey
Tonja Vincent
ENG 2010
26 Mar 2018
High school is the time of teenagers’ life. Their thoughts constant of prom, who’s dating
who, and passing classes. Filing for bankruptcy or being in debt isn’t a concern in the everyday
life for high school students. This paper will be discussing the importance of financial literacy
and the impact it has on young adults. The question that is being discussed is, “Why isn’t
financial literacy an educational priority in society for millennials?” This paper will hit the main
topics of this question – millennials behavior, the youth providing for America, and the United
Understanding this statistic proves that Image from “Washington Federal. Invested Here”
article. See Works Cited.
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financial literacy courses need to be incorporated into high school education. Few teens
understand basic financial terms, like a credit score. From the image above, it states 44 percent
of high school students don’t know what a credit score is but plan to receive one. Knowing that
teens can be naïve and seeing from the image that very few talk to their parents about their
Millennials Behaviors
Millennials are young adult born between 1980 and 2009. Born into America at a time
where credit comes easy and interest rates are always changing, “this generation has struggled
with high rates of housing debt, student loan debt, and an unstable labor market”, stated by
Stacia West and Terri Friedline, who are both social welfare mentors at the Center of
Undergraduate Research.
West spoke about. A lot of millennials are in high debt because they’re uneducated in their
financial decisions. This all goes back to the fact that millennials don’t understand basic financial
that they’re not educated in credit or loans. But going back to what West and Friedline said,
millennials are the ones having the problem with debt from loans and credit. Understanding
that— millennials have easy access to credit, they have a high rate of debt, and they don’t
understand credit or loan, why isn’t this seen as a priority? The information is there and the
The Future of America is at stake. “The financial behaviors of these young adults today
may shape their financial well-being of tomorrow, potentially hindering their later ability to
accumulate wealth.” (Friedline & West 305). The upcoming generation is financially illiterate
and there’s still no educational requirements to fix the problem. Millennials are putting their
futures at stake and America’s future too. Clinical Director of the MidAmerican Psychological
Institute, Jennifer Paterson, researched financial education in 2014 and found that “77% of
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respondents believe financial education in the workplace would help employees to achieve better
financial outcomes.” (Paterson) This information that Paterson provide proves that Friedline and
West are correct, that the young adults’ financial education will affect the workplace. This being
true, the question of why financial literacy isn’t an educational priority is asked once again.
the “real world”, but a valuable lesson isn’t being taught to students when the opportunity is
presented. If teens are going to be illiterate of financial literacy, then no success will be seen in
Previously stated, in the United States, there are only four states which require high
school students to pass a financial literacy course to graduate. Those states are Missouri,
Tennessee, Virginia, and Utah. Viola Supon states, being “money smart” is a precious skill to
have as an individual. The ability to be financially literate or “money smart” isn’t a skill most of
today’s youth possesses. (Supon 68) For high schools that don’t require financial literacy as a
teaches teens to think to be financially literate as more of a “bonus” rather than a life skill
workforce and progression of the United States, instead of a bonus. If we move forward with
uneducated youth the progression of the United States is likely to plummet. Katie Nedl, global
head of benefits at BlackRock, says it best when speaking out to the youth, “We are entering into
a new world of responsibility, which is making sure we are providing the right tools and
resources to enable, engage and educate employees to achieve their own financial wellness."
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(Paterson). To achieve financial wellness is a goal to strive for, unfortunately for America’s
youth, it’s a goal they’re not likely to reach. With success being mainly based off how financial
wealth a citizen is, why isn’t financial literacy held higher on the podium of education? For
financial literacy to become an importance, the focus is on the teachers. To increase students’
abilities on being money smart, teachers need to organize a lesson on this important topic.
Teachers need to set aside part of the day for the “important factors” of financial literacy, so
students can obtain it. Teachers, themselves must obtain financial literacy knowledge. “[They]
must be familiar with the content and use appropriate strategies of delivery to their students” so
students can gain from the experience (Supon 69). Teachers doing this helps students to gain a
better knowledge and understanding of financial literacy while becoming skillful at the same
University Library, interviews young college student and discovers that, “only 14 percent of
young Americans overall can answer a full five personal finance questions correctly” (Faulkner
116). The problem with this statistic is the absence of financial literacy knowledge in young
Americans. Unsophisticated youth is going to lead the future of the United States in debt as they
become the leaders. If surveys and statistics continue to show this pattern it is highly probable
that the youth of today will become adults in debt, with no savings nor retirement. It is easy to
observe from these statistics that teens are unaware to save and budget and are financially
illiterate.
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Works Cited
Faulkner, Ashley E. "Financial Literacy Education in the United States." Reference & User
Services Quarterly, vol. 56, no. 2, Winter2016, pp. 116-125. EBSCOhost. Accessed 10
March 2018.
Federal, Washington. “Washington Federal. Invested Here.” Financial Literacy for Students
Paterson, Jennifer. "Who Will Be Responsible for Providing Financial Education?." Employee
Prah, Pamela. “States Lag in Educating Students About Personal Finance.” Financial Literacy
Requirements Lag in States, The Pew Charitable Trusts, 4 Mar. 2014. Accessed 10
March 2018.
Ray, Kendall. “The Millennial Conundrum: Millennials are bogged down by massive student
debt and confiscatory housing prices.” My Budget 360, 12 Aug. 2015. Accessed 10
March 2018.
Supon, Viola. "Helping Students to Become Money Smart." Journal of Instructional Psychology,
vol. 39, no. 1, Mar. 2012, pp. 68-71. EBSCOhost. Accessed 10 March 2018.
West, Stacia and Terri Friedline. "Coming of Age on a Shoestring Budget: Financial Capability
and Financial Behaviors of Lower-Income Millennials." Social Work, vol. 61, no. 4, Oct.