It all started when you were a kid. If you were fortunate enough from the beginning, one of your first gifts was probably a piggy bank or the general equivalent thereof. Maybe, if you were particularly lucky, your mom or dad sat you down around the time you started getting an allowance and taught you the basic facts about money—all the bare bones that you needed to know about how to use it wisely. About spending, savings, and investment. There are no guarantees that early training puts anyone on a par with such financial wizards as Donald Trump or Warren Buffet, but there is no question it offers kids a significant advantage over the vast majority of those who grow up without it.

Way back I started taking notice of the different economic levels among my contemporaries, and eventually saw a striking correlation between early education and later financial success.

So, while it is never too late to get smart about money, financial literacy is mostly effectively applied when the training comes in youth, in order that it may be applied over the course of a lifetime.

As a parent or grandparent, you may feel largely responsible for passing along the benefit of your knowledge and experience to the younger generation, and you would be right in that assessment. But wouldn’t it strengthen their education if they were receiving it in classrooms as well as in the home?

This is the argument put forth by Braun Mincher, who has recently published The Secrets of Money: A Guide for Everyone on Practical Financial Literacy. Mincher believes that financial literacy is at an all-time low because high schools and colleges are not teaching the subject sufficiently. He says, “there’s been a sharp drop in the financial knowledge in all sectors of society, even adults with advanced college degrees.”

Mincher’s book offers people of all ages the financial information they need to survive. It shows how to manage credit, distinguish among mortgage products, and offers financial-planning tips that schools are simply not teaching.    

Current U.S. government data tell a sobering tale of financial independence among Americans over 60. If you are a member of that sobering statistic, it is not too late to turn the tables, and put your financial house in order. You have the rest of your life to enjoy, but it would help if you could afford it.

 
P.S. For those of you with an activist streak, here is an issue worth your getting up and out in the morning, and giving you a sense of accomplishment. Contact your congressperson. Alert the media. Start a petition. Write a blog. And get financial literacy into the schools now. It’s a legacy sure to make you proud.