6 Responses

1. Goonhild

   November 4th, 2009 at 8:18 am

   1

   It’s not limited to the United States, unfortunately. You chaps don’t have the monopoly on crappy personal money management.
   I think Western society has ingrained in people a feeling that they are justified in getting what they want immediately. We hear ‘life’s too short’ all too much. People want everything now, and society, in it’s post WW2 boom, has pandered to this. The postwar excesses that were a kneejerk reaction to the austerities of war have not abated.
   People from my parent’s generation were either children of the Great Depression, or were raised by people who survived it. They didn’t need any special education at school to teach them about the value of a dollar. They learned that from a hungry belly. In Australia, where I’m from, men used to go to the police station and tell the officer they’d seen an injured horse or cow on the side of the road, and they’d be given (GIVEN) 2 bullets to put it down. Everyone knew there was no animal to be put down. Many families relied on this silent understanding to survive. The bullets were used on wild pigs or kangaroos — anything that could be eaten when times were tough.
   Compare that to now. If you need food, you go onto welfare. There is waste everywhere. Items like string, soap, paper, plastic and glass bottles, rubber bands, plastic bags, and fabric, are thrown out as rubbish. Waste is endemic. Society has taught us that things like this are worthless, even though they do have an inherent value. They are useful items.
   We have been spoonfed to believe that consuption will solve all our problems. Hence we comfort eat. We live in houses that are palaces compared to the homes our grandparents lived in. We take things for granted, and we still want more.
   Education does have a role to play. Some kids at school will never learn effective money management strategies unless they are explicitly taught. The problem is, these classes are ‘vegie’ maths, or ‘dumb’ maths. They are not encouraged to take these classes. Instead, classes aimed at preparing them for university study are promoted. This creates generation after generation of kids who have no money skills. They don’t learn from their parents, and they don’t learn from school.
   I think money skills are a life skill. They should be explicitly taught. Children need to learn how to save for things, and how to use debt correctly. Otherwise, it’s like giving a child a needle filled with morphine and telling them to use it. It’s a tool, but it must be used wisely.
   There will always be some people who are just downright lousy with money. But they shouldn’t be the majority.

2. M F

   November 4th, 2009 at 8:18 am

   2

   I was never taught about money from my parents and have struggled with it my whole adult life, in spite of making very good money and having an MBA.
   I think it needs to start when kids are very young. I teach my 11 and 8 year olds about money, career, credit and for a little spice I throw in some advice about how hard marriage is and how money affects it…. I wish my parents had had these kind of talks with me when I was a kid.

3. DearAbby

   November 4th, 2009 at 8:18 am

   3

   Honestly, I believe that the household debt issue is a combination of many factors, but the largest factor is not calculating the impact of financial decisions. Some may argue that this is a result of poor financial education, but I would argue that it is the result of a lack of effort. It takes a lot of time and effort to accurately map out all your income and expenses to know exactly how much money is available for discretionary purchases. I think that there are many tools available now to help consumers, such as online banking/credit card statements that detail income and expenses for a given time period. If consumers spend the time to look over the information available to them, they are much more likely to understand their finances and manage them better.

4. Claire P

   November 4th, 2009 at 8:18 am

   4

   I think a big part of it is lack of education… They don’t really teach you how to manage money good in school, or how to invest or about credit. So we rely on learning from those around us like parents and such, but so many parents are in debt they don’t set a good example for how their kids should be with money and finances and stuff. I think they should have a class teaching all this stuff in high school, because as soon as you graduate you get hit up with a billion credit card offers with huge limits and it usually screws those who don’t know any better or don’t realize about what a good APR is for a credit card!

5. Mr realisticbeliever in truth

   November 4th, 2009 at 8:18 am

   5

   Unfortunately…we as a nation are extremely ignorant about life, respect and integrity.
   Our me-first mentality causes us to want without thought and live beyond our means because we believe we deserve it.
   Just look at the way we treat each other…always trying get one over on someone!

6. Richie Rich

   November 4th, 2009 at 8:18 am

   6

   Lack of education in the schools about it as well as parents as a role model. It does not take much effort to restructure your entire finances. I can do it with a spreadsheet.
   It mostly takes an understanding of how it works. Most finances companies do NOT want their customers/clients to know how it works because it means more money for them. That also plays some into it.
   All and all, society as a whole failed society.