Anyone who’s ever struggled with a difficult class in high school has questioned if he/she will ever actually use this stuff after graduation. Schools and universities should be the places to prepare us for real life. Financial Literacy and knowing how to let money work for you rather than you running after money will make you debt-free for the rest of your life. Nearly half of UAE residents are in debt, while a significant number are failing to save money, according a report by Payfort.
Did you know that one of the top reasons for divorce is financial problems?
So, most of this can be easily solved if Financial Literacy and Money Management was taught in schools.
What is Financial Literacy?
Financial literacy classes should teach students the basics of money management like budgeting, saving, debt, and investing. That knowledge lays a foundation for students to build strong money habits early on and avoid many of the mistakes that lead to lifelong money struggles.
Why it is important to teach Financial Literacy in Schools?
With more than 60% of UAE citizens suffering from debt, it is very important to spread awareness about Financial Literacy in the country. People are living from paycheck to paycheck without any awareness of how important is financial freedom and how to seek for it. They should be trained how to use credit cards smartly without struggling in the overdue payments.
Also, with the continuous rising cost of living and taxes worldwide, it is very important to start having Financial Literacy as a mandatory subject to be taught in schools.
“It is not the money that people should be after, it is the freedom to live life on their own terms.”
So what advantages are there to learning money principles as a student rather than as an adult? Well, students who learn personal finance principles early have the most time to apply what they know, getting the most out of their knowledge. Even better, many personal finance students apply what they learn right away while they’re still in high school. Simply students are more likely to stay out of debt and avoid maxing out credit cards and start saving.
How it can be done?
It can be easily done through some theoretical tactics and rules for money, class activities, and projects. However, we should bare in mind that the teachers who are going to teach financial literacy in schools should be financial literate themselves or learnt from self made wealthy people. The books and principles should be based on life experiments from people who started from the scratch and are wealthy and left a legacy behind like Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg…etc. Books reference for teaching financial management should be like Rich Dad Poor Dad, The 10X Rule, Think and Grow Rich…etc. Furthermore, with the great easy access to the internet there are many useful YouTube channels that produce video content about financial management.