Savings account, CD account, IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k) and MSA account are all smoke and mirrors. Finance traps our smartest people for what? What we should really do is boycott inflation and invest in bitcoin.
Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
141–150 of 262 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel like that's kind of like saying we shouldnt teach adding because one day you might be asked what 2+3 is instead of 2+2. School shouldn't make you memorize random facts but teach you the underlying concepts
There are no underlying concepts; they switch the whole thing up every so often. Say in 8 years time the government decides to swap income tax & sales tax out and replace them with a wealth & land tax. What fundamentals were the students meant to be taught to deal with that?
Sure, there are tons of fundamental concepts. Even in what you mentioned - what are the types of taxes that exist and whom do they impact? How are taxes levied, how is tax burden calculated, and within each society, how is that changed? What's regressive, proportional, or progressive taxation - for bonus points, what is the historical impact of these changes?
Bigger picture for underlying concepts - what is money? What are the historical monetary systems that have been developed? What is debt? How does fiat currency work and how does this system work globally? A basic discussion of inflation/deflation, monetary theory and practice. How does fractional-reserve banking work (relation to liquidity, money supply, and velocity of money).
I'd add that there are a number of non-intuitive fundamental concepts for investing: the time value of money, compound rates (bonus: calculating differences in growth from tax-advantaged accounts), what is rebalancing and why does it work (related, how does correlation work in improving yield), or even understanding the basics of "capitalism" (specifically the theoretical and practical implications of rent-seeking and accumulation of capital).
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#143I studied in Czech Republic and we had entire class spanning out over two years for economic and financial literacy at my high school. On the practical level, we were even tasked to fill out tax returns for a fictional company and we learned how to start freelancing & start a company. It was a high school in a rather small town on the south of Czech Republic, nothing special. I don't know how common this is in the re…
Milk and honey in Czech Republic. I grew up in Ukraine and Romania and to be fair nobody earned any money after informatics high-school, we had to finish university and leave our families for UK and USA to earn a good income. My group of friends knew that if we stayed in Europe we will end up mostly on outsourced projects. Didn't know Czechia is an incubator of Rockefellers.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#144In Poland, a study from 2017 found that:
* 58% of population thinks they don't pay the VAT tax
* 21% of population thinks they pay no taxes at all
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
False theories of poverty spread by people like yourself are the reason more people don't get the right advice to get out. They're told something crazy like "well yeah you just don't have enough money, too bad" The guy I'm talking about has windfalls - and when they come he'll feel so bad he goes out with friends and blows $30 on a meal. If he changed his celebrations to $15 meals using a coupon clipped from the pape…
>False theories of poverty spread by people like yourself are the reason more people don't get the right advice to get out. What exactly is your theory of poverty, if you don't mind me asking? That impoverished folk should be better at saving, and then they wouldn't be impoverished?
Let’s agree that both forms exist. There are definitely people with very little financial literacy living paycheck to paycheck, in constant fear of an unexpected cost, that could have adjusted their lifestyle to save a small amount over time into a meaningful nest egg. There are also people who just make less money than even a spartan life costs.
It’s ignorant to assume that all poverty is the result of poor decisions and an unwillingness to save, but equally ignorant to pretend that doesn’t exist at all.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#146Every recommendation to add "x" to a school curriculum should state explicitly what alternative activity should be cut to free up time. This could be another subject, sleep or childrens' free time. For example, a better question would be "Why don't we eliminate and teach finance instead?"
I’d argue this could embedded into an existing math curriculum instead. Most people could use this more than an advanced algebra class.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Financial education could begin at the grade school level and be rolled into math class as a practical application of concepts being taught. That could continue well into algebra 1 & 2. At a high school level you could address more complex aspects of finance as part of history and social sciences. We shouldn’t ever be teaching one subject at the expense of another, they’re all connected.
That is not a good idea. Focus on one topic at a time. Otherwise you will have a half baked understanding of both. It is probably great for Hacker News types who love STEM. For most children, having to simultaneously learn multiple things in class will not be viable.
I disagree—I think that math being so abstract rather than taught with extremely practical applications is why it feels so out of reach for many.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#148Not that I'm defending it, but:
The answer is for the same reason that practical skills in general aren't -- cooking, cleaning, how to purchase a car or home, how to review an apartment rental contract or put together a resume, how to raise children, how to mount shelves, how to do laundry.
Education is designed pretty much solely as a feeder system for professional skills, starting with reading and numbers and performance, and then in high school figuring out who will have what it takes to be able to go to college and major in math or English or violin (or professional finance), so they'll be able to eventually become engineers or lawyers or orchestra members (or accountants).
Combined with education as a citizen, which is why we also learn history and a little bit of literature.
For better or worse, it's assumed that you'll be able to pick up all the practical skills on your own, armed with your foundation of reading and math and "critical thinking".
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#149Every recommendation to add "x" to a school curriculum should state explicitly what alternative activity should be cut to free up time. This could be another subject, sleep or childrens' free time. For example, a better question would be "Why don't we eliminate and teach finance instead?"
I feel high school should be a year longer IMO. Life expectancy has grown, but number of years in secondary education hasn't.
Adulthood is already super delayed compared to 50-100 years ago. I'd rather see the trend reverse than further help it.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn’t finance a part of the core curriculum at schools?
#150According to Yanis Varoufakis, politicians these days are not so smart anymore because the best, youngest and brightest realize the true power is in finance. He also said bankers have figured out a way to use money to buy laws and use laws to make money.
And "making money" in the financial services sector generally isn't actively making anything real (be it physical or "intellectual" property), just rearranging speculation and layers of middlemen taking a percentage cut for their "work".