A little late in responding, but just got a chance to read this. Great article!
Here is my favorite line:
"Why is it so easy for the unschooled to keep up with their better-educated brethren? My guess is that it’s because very little learning goes on at school at all."
This is my response to everyone who wants better personal finance taught in school. That's a great concept, but falls victim to the issue that very little learning goes on at school...because the average 14-year old doesn't really care and has no concept of how to apply it. In college they might care a little bit, but most had no real desire to learn about the BS OPM and how to use it as a tool unless it was "on the test" (which I get 100%) or if they thought it was going to make them rich (it doesn't without understanding a whole lot more). The same is true for any other skill set taught in college (probably less so than finance where people are motivated a bit more by greed than they are in learning about photography, history, or many other fields). Learning and applying what you learn is HARD and typically takes intrinsic motivation.
That said, I also loved your closing comments on kindness. Don't be a jerk was one of the lessons I tried to incorporate in teaching over the last half of my career.
A little late in responding, but just got a chance to read this. Great article!
Here is my favorite line:
"Why is it so easy for the unschooled to keep up with their better-educated brethren? My guess is that it’s because very little learning goes on at school at all."
This is my response to everyone who wants better personal finance taught in school. That's a great concept, but falls victim to the issue that very little learning goes on at school...because the average 14-year old doesn't really care and has no concept of how to apply it. In college they might care a little bit, but most had no real desire to learn about the BS OPM and how to use it as a tool unless it was "on the test" (which I get 100%) or if they thought it was going to make them rich (it doesn't without understanding a whole lot more). The same is true for any other skill set taught in college (probably less so than finance where people are motivated a bit more by greed than they are in learning about photography, history, or many other fields). Learning and applying what you learn is HARD and typically takes intrinsic motivation.
That said, I also loved your closing comments on kindness. Don't be a jerk was one of the lessons I tried to incorporate in teaching over the last half of my career.