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Have any of you heard about the new book by Harvard economist, John Y. Campbell, Fixed: Why Personal Finance Is Broken and How to Make it Work for Everyone? I heard him interviewed yesterday on Episode 380 of The Rational Reminder podcast and found myself nodding along in agreement the whole interview. I want to read the book.
Campbell argues that the financial system we all need to navigate fails most people because of needless complexity, costs that are not transparent to ordinary people, and financial products that are byzantine, expensive and unnecessary. He then suggests policies to correct these issues so that capitalism can be truer to its ideals, such as a transparency in pricing, fair competition, and accurate information so consumers can reliably evaluate genuine benefits, costs, and value of complex financial goods and services.
As an educator, one segment especially piqued my interest. Campbell said that it is good to see more high schools teaching personal finance. But how do we do this effectively without practice in the ‘real’ world? By analogy, teaching someone to drive a car using only the classroom setting will not guarantee “knowing” how to drive a car. As with drivers ed, wise personal money management needs to be practiced if it going to be acquired as a habit.
In middle school in the 1970s, I remember practicing writing checks, balancing a checkbook, calculating annual interest rates, and filling out sample car loan applications. Now at my age, coupled with my parents’ guidance, I realize how helpful that was as a foundation.
I am curious how members of this community believe personal finance should be taught to young people. What are your earliest memories of financial education? What age should it start? How can technology or AI simulation help in this process? Clearly, parents are the first step, but what is our common social responsibility?
That’s such a great question, and I think Campbell really nails something that most of us have felt but couldn’t quite explain. The financial system is unnecessarily complicated, and that complexity makes people feel powerless or confused instead of confident. Transparency and simplicity shouldn’t be luxuries—they should be the standard.
I also loved Campbell’s point about learning by doing. Teaching personal finance only in theory is like teaching someone to drive by showing them road signs but never letting them sit behind the wheel. If we want young people to truly “get it,” they need practice—budgeting with a mock income, managing virtual investments, tracking spending in real time, and seeing how decisions play out.
Technology could be a real game-changer here. Imagine AI-powered simulations that let students experience the outcomes of financial choices—like taking out a loan, investing, or saving—without the real-world risk. That kind of “financial lab” experience could build confidence before adulthood.
As for when to start, I’d say as early as possible. Kids already make choices about money in small ways—allowance, saving for toys, etc. If we build on that naturally and keep lessons age-appropriate, by high school they’ll have the mindset and tools to handle real finances.
Parents definitely set the tone, but it feels like schools and communities share responsibility too. Financial education should be a team effort—part of raising capable citizens, not just consumers.
I’m curious how others here first learned about money, and what kinds of hands-on lessons (or tools) you think would help the next generation most.
Carl, this is a great topic. As other readers have commented, there has been a move to bring personal finance education into the schools of some communities. I hope we are seeing its infancy, however, and that it matures into settled necessity for thriving in our modern society.
Still, I’m not sure how to move from didactic to practical learning. One barrier is the adults that are modeling behaviors for the children. Many of the teachers and parents need to enroll in a personal finance course themselves.
A parallel topic to managing money is keeping it. Jim Wasserman covers this in his article on seductive marketing.
https://humbledollar.com/2019/07/terms-of-the-trade/
As with most things we learn from our parents. When I received money gifts my parents encouraged a savings account, and to spend some and save some. Besides that the bank paid me interest on my balance, wow that was like free money. You can learn a lot from a simple savings account. The key for high school and college, is to learn to be responsible with money. Also to know and learn about compounding is your friend and inflation is your enemy. Get a grasp on credit cards, credit scores and mortgages. Work out some real live problems. You may think twice about this statement, $1 saved in the S&P over 60 years turns into $100,000 dollars. Everyone needs to learn retirement is not free, and the sooner you can save a little, will mean a lot many years later. At 80 years old, my medical insurance supplement rose 25% this year! Save as early and often as you can.
I suspect financial education is often a bit like premarital counseling. As a pastor and a Marriage and Family Therapist, I’ve done my share of that, and I’m convinced that almost no one who wants to get married can seriously contemplate all the hard challenges, much less address them in advance.
It’s probably also a bit like teaching the high school football team about CTE caused by repeated subconcussive blows to the head, concussions, and falls. It might be helpful, but good luck!