Money affects more than just our bank accounts. It has an impact on our emotions, sense of well-being, overall mood, and even our health – manifested as stress or the lack thereof. The emotional responses evoked by our personal finances influence the money decisions we make. It is important to identify and be mindful of any feelings you have that may have an impact on your personal finances. Luckily, there are steps you can take to minimize emotional responses so you can make logical financial decisions.
Current situation:
It is common practice for people to make money decisions influenced by their parents, peers/influencers, personal experiences and advertisements which usually do not have their interests at heart.The divergence in behaviors of financially literate and illiterate individuals is the difference between a financially secure future and a future plagued by financial struggles.
Education should be the panacea to build individuals confidence about the decisions that you make.
Case for including personal finance in the syllabus.
a) You need to know what money can and can’t do<
Knowing how money factors into our daily lives is a key asset in life. Knowing and understanding money is called financial literacy. To be financially literate means to be able to make responsible decisions with regards to money/finances.
Financial literacy can help you manage your money to the extent that it can prevent you from getting into debt, or living arrogantly when faced with too much money. It teaches you that there is, in fact, a limit and that if your income doesn’t balance out your spending, either you’ve got some savings left, or you’re in debt already. This basic form of budgeting is something most of us never get taught until we face it the hard way.
b) Talking about budgeting, you’re probably already in debt.
At least in the current COVID 19 climate, being in debt is highly likely given the reduced income, job loss and closure of businesses. What will financial literacy do for you then? It will allow you to be able to distinguish between both good and bad debt. “Good” debt being repayable investments (cash flows from the investment are paying for the debt) and “bad” debt being non-repayable debt (you don’t have the money now, nor will have it later) that focuses on immediate consumption without monetary gains.
When in good debt, financial literacy helps manage it. You are more likely to understand how the debt can be paid off and how to do it most beneficially.
With regards to bad debt, financial literacy will help you avoid it.
c) Why early learning and not late introduction to these facts?
The habits we learn when young are the ones that are so ingrained in us and are the most difficult to break. Habits are based on the knowledge we have at a certain moment in time. We owe it to “the youth” to actually give them the knowledge to survive in a future of uncertain financial climate.
We deal with money constantly. Whether it’s income, spending, savings, debt, mortgages, pension schemes or investments. We need to get into the habit of thinking that when it comes to money, we need to know what we’re doing. And there’s no better age to be taught than as early as possible!
d) Reflecting on the person as an individual and their money
Money has an impact on far more than just people’s bank accounts – it permeates most areas of their lives. It affects central areas of our happiness and well-being: relationships, health, lifespan, lifestyle, and career. Financial problems often have significant effects in many areas of people’s lives and overall life experiences.
The stress of having too much debt or being financially insecure can have a tremendous impact on an individual’s emotional and physical health. Financial insecurity may include constant reminders of outstanding debt, or more extreme situations such as unknown circumstances regarding your next paycheck, keeping a roof over your head, or feeding yourself and your family.
e) Spillover effect to the Communities
Collectively, people’s finances have an impact on their communities. Negative economic shifts can exert even greater stress on the community infrastructure.
Locally, the impact of financial problems can hurt businesses and draw upon city revenue that would otherwise be used for improvements. Beyond local communities, uninformed financial decisions often cause trends that affect our economy at large.
In communities where people are financially savvy and have greater security, the problems that affect undeserved groups are less severe. We can level the playing field by helping to ensure that people have access to financial education and support their process of making important money decisions.
f) Taking financial decisions is in the hands of every individual
There are many people trying to make a buck as the race to survival heightens. Aggressive advertisements pushing consumerism in the disguise of convenience have become the order of the day and this has had an immense impact on how people manage their money.
To teach people at a young age means they see through these schemes when they might need them the most, say after high school, in college, in their first job etc.
It ruins your finances, your mental health and as such can have devastating effects on your future. And the future is very long for the youth, with life expectancy stretched to 90 years. We don’t want to ruin the decades to come by letting them fall into these traps. We need to teach them personal finance.
Conclusion:
Most people never receive any formal education about personal finances. Instead, many of us learn how to manage our money from family members, friends, or co-workers. Our financial habits – good or bad – have been molded over time by our parents, advertisers, peers, social networks, and personal experiences. On the other hand Corporate finance mastery is what we get and recognizably miss the basic foundation on personal finance management. A better way to learn financial skills would be to find a mentor/financial coach who truly has the experience and qualifications to help shape your financial behaviors in a positive direction at the early ages of our life through a formal education system.
The greater the financial strength of individuals within a community, the stronger the community. Changes are rapidly occurring that make addressing people’s financial wellness a huge priority.
At the Financial Fitness Spa we are sounding the alarm. Financial problems are straining economic resources and increasing the expenses of our working class, now is the time to change the narrative. A fundamental part of our mission is to advocate for financial literacy education, encourage employers to implement financial wellness programs at work and get people involved in this movement.
Let’s remember that, “The single biggest difference between financial success and financial failure is how well you manage your money. It’s simple: to master money, you must manage money.” – T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.
For God and My Country.
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