Key Takeaways
- A recent study found that two thirds of people can’t pass a basic financial literacy test.
- Financial literacy isn’t taught in formal schooling, but it’s so important and mistakes can be costly, so it helps to have a money mentor.
- A money mentor can be a parent, grandparent, friend, or anyone you know and trust and who has been successful with their money.
One of the things I’ve found very helpful in my life is to look for mentors. Mentors for any issue, or anything I wanted to learn. It’s so much easier, so much quicker, and I avoided lots of bad mistakes. Especially with money.
I recently came across a study of 27,000 individuals done by the FINRA Foundation in July of 2016, that found two thirds of people can’t pass a basic financial literacy test. This is especially true of young people entering the workplace and coming out of school. Because financial literacy isn’t taught in school, at any level.
This study highlights an important point that you are probably going to make some mistakes in the financial arena, unless you seek out some good advice from someone who knows more about money than you do. It could initially be your parents, or your grandparents, but it could also be a good friend that can be your money mentor. You want someone who can help you out, that can be your sounding board, so you don’t make mistakes.
And a lot of mistakes can happen, like not getting your credit score to the right level, leasing a car when you should buy, getting the wrong kind of mortgage for a house, not looking at the right kinds of credit cards, or using a debit card instead of a credit card. You can click on the links to read more about the highlighted issues, but there’s a lot that can happen, and so many different areas will come up over time.
There’s a ton to learn, and unfortunately, very little of it is taught in the formal schooling we go through, even up through undergraduate and graduate school. So, we could all use a little bit of help in the financial realm. Find yourself a really good money mentor to save yourself from a lot of angst and issues that can come about, especially when it comes to piling on debt, as that’s a big issue many people are facing right now.
Until next time, enjoy!
Gary