Financial Perspectives from a High School Senior

In an educational system that teaches students a seemingly endless amount of knowledge in their mathematics or history courses, they often leave out the pivotal financial realities their students will encounter in the coming years. High school and college students can acknowledge their own lack of experience with financial affairs but must be well-versed and educated in these areas during their youth in order to fill this void.

The more crucial areas that young adults will experience complications with are the financial basics such as:

• Building credit and managing credit cards.  It is important to pay down in full on your credit card debt so that interest rates do not accumulate on you, potentially resulting in low credit scores.
• Balancing a checkbook.  In keeping track of your transactions, one can learn to better budget their money through acknowledging their expenses.
• Basic investing principles and long term investing. A foundation in investing can help a young adult save money for future goals and even retirement, taking advantage of long-term compounded growth.
• Paying for college and the dangers of student loan debt.  Being aware of your loans and creating a plan to gradually lower outstanding balances during the ‘grace period’ can prevent future bank rejections on loans and credit cards once you become responsible for repaying your debt.
• Creating and managing a budget.  It's important to create a budget that aligns with your current financial situation but also to keep to it. Keeping a budget by not excessively spending can prevent debt from becoming unmanageable.

Overall, these actions appear daunting to the youth due to a lack of experience, however, a strong foundation in any or all of these areas can provide a young adult with the tools to create and manage a suitable financial plan.

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