Teaching America’s Youth about Personal Finance

When I graduated college with $13,645.22 in credit card debt on top of approximately $90,000 in undergraduate student loans, I was crushed. At a time when I should be enjoying financial freedom afforded to a young professional with consistent pay, I was saving pennies in an effort to reclaim my credit. My wastrel spending habits were a product of growing up in a consumerist household where the benefit of saving was never taught. While I don’t fault my family for their spending, had they had better financial discipline I am certain I would have chosen a different path. But I was fortunate to have mentors that guided me through the procress; praising me when I paid off a credit card and acting as a sounding board when the frustration of being broke would get to me. What they refused to give me was a handout, confident that the lesson of pulling myself up on my own would go much further than a personal check. And when I made that last payment, I saw their point.

I have touted my success to everyone willing to listen, most of whom had the benefit of growing up with better financial habits. I receive the congratulatory comments I expect, but desire to help people correct the same mistakes that I have made — or teach them to avoid those mistakes in the first place. Since I have elevated myself, I have helped two family members begin to realize their own financial freedom. Their situations were completely different; one had a history of wastrel spending such as myself and the other found themself facing tough times due to today’s economic uncertainty. For the former, I helped them join the same counseling program that put me on pace to repayment in three years, taught them how to stretch their income across an expense and savings budget, and act as the same sounding board to them that my mentors were to me when they face tough times. The latter already had the budgeting skills, but I helped them secure a job that would generate income without spending that money on expensive childcare costs. Both have a long way to go, but are on pace to pull themselves up much like I have.

That said, I have been presented with an excellent opportunity to teach and mentor innercity Philadelphia high school students on personal finance. This will be an exciting challenge for me, because I won’t have the immediate benefit of trust that I had with my family. In order for this to work, it will be imperative to build a rapport with these students so that they are honest with me about their finances. These students’ education, work, and social experiences are likely to be different than my own, and may find it difficult to relate to the topics and suggestions that I discuss. My goal is to be open and transparent with these students, freely discussing my personal experiences, what I learned, and what I would do differently if I had an opportunity to start again.

Leading up to this opportunity, I will be researching and writing on the issues that are specific to the demographic I am teaching. Do these students use a bank account or do they use check cashing facilities? If these students use the latter, are they opposed to using a bank account? Do these students use the internet and mobile phones? If so, would they use online financial software to track their spending? Where do they spend their money and why are those spending habits important to them? This will provide me with insight on how I can translate my personal experiences into topics that are most beneficial to them. As a reader, if you have any experience on these issues or others not listed above, I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts.