College does not teach you jack about money.
During the past year of writing on Pocket Changed this one thing that has stood out most of all to me. Through speaking at universities, coaching people one-on-one, working on a Hollywood documentary, attending industry conferences, and advising real-life friends, this one disturbing fact stands out above the rest.
In many cases school doesn’t teach you much about finding a job or becoming a better person either. That tends to depend on your major. (With having business as one of my majors I created a résumé in my first semester and was recommended a personal development book in every class.)
I am putting together an in-depth, full featured, and extensive guide covering everything about personal finance that should have been taught in college and I need your help.
I’m not directly blaming colleges, but learning the foundations of managing your money in your late teens and early twenties is not happening and that is when learning it has the most impact.
To make sure I capture every possible question people have after college about personal finance I want to hear from you.
What do you wish you had learned in college about managing your money?
Feel free to let me know in the comments below or on the Pocket Change Facebook page.
Thanks!
(image via Flickr)
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I would have to say I learned almost nothing in college about managing money, which I think is ridiculous. I’ve had to do all the learning on my own.
It would’ve been awesome to learn about accounting (I almost took a class for no credit, and I’m a mathy person in general). More specifically, I’d like a better understanding now of accounting and taxes for small businesses (like mine).
I also think it would’ve been helpful to get some solid advice about taking on debt before you actually do it in college. Unfortunately, I learned everything useful after I already had credit cards and student loans. If I had a better understanding of how much stress debt would cause and how much time it would take to pay off, I definitely would’ve thought twice about it.
I also wish I had gone after more scholarships, too. Based on Jame Clear’s and Ramit’s advice, it seems like there was a lot to go after and that wouldn’t be that tough if you can streamline the process. Seems like they got a very high ROI for their efforts going after scholarships (and much higher than the work-study job I had!)
I too wish I would have worked harder to earn more scholarships. I also wished I would have learned more in my business classes about how to actually run a small business instead of just big business topics.
Everyone just starting out should know and truly understand the power of compounding interest. It is both one of the secrets of wealth and one of the reasons for debt problems.
This is a huge point. I always bring this up when I talk to college students one-on-one.
I wish that there had been courses like Real-World Survival to teach us what to do to manage money, be intelligent consumers, and live without relying on credit and Profound Personal Expression to reignite the lost creativity of this generation and encourage more creative writing.
College loves overspecialization, but that is exactly the opposite of what we need. We need to learn to adapt and thrive no matter the situation.
Keeping your options open is key Daniel, thanks for bringing that up. You can get pigeon-holed pretty easily in college if you just keep your head down for 4 years.
Dude - College would have been *soooooo* much more useful if it included things like “Laundry 101″ or “How to not rely on McDonalds for dinner”. A class titled, “Hey Sarah, put down the credit cards because you’re going to regret it when you’re 26 and anxious to go self-employed,” would have been pretty awesome too…
But seriously, if I could teach college kids anything, it would be how to live without debt and how to balance budget actualities with expectations. So often, it felt like I spent on things, not because I wanted them, but because I thought it was what you were supposed to do.
Great idea, though - I know tons and tons of people who could benefit from that kind of info!
Haha, laundry 101. I agree with you that the “supposed to have’s” and the sense of entitlement are both huge things that people need to overcome if they are going to get their finances in order at a young age.
I was pretty stupid back then. They probably did teach me some important tips but I probably wasn’t listening or didn’t take it seriously.
Money is a huge responsibility that even adults can’t handle. Sometimes, the best learning is doing. You just want to hope that you learn before you dig too deep of a hole.
I also think parents play a big role in money management.
I agree that parents and close friends play a big role in influencing the habits people have with money. Learning by doing is how most people do it I think, but like you said, hopefully it is not a big mistake!
I have thought about this very subject many times. Somewhere our educational system is failing to prepare our citizens for the “real world.”. I tend to think introductory personal finance should be required to graduate high school. Instead, we force our young adults to figure it out on there own. Yet we wonder why this country has a debt problem?
I agree with Tyler-I think a lot of this should be taught in high school! Waiting until college means you’ve missed the chance to talk about how the student will pay for college, why to avoid those credit cards being tossed around during Frosh Week, and manage money along with their newfound independence. The earlier, the better!