MSE News: Half a million financial education textbooks to be sent to schools

Well done Martin and the trust.

I do wonder if 'financial education' is the answer. Very often it seems to me young people do understand how much getting on credit costs rather than saving up, what debt problems can do to them etc etc and yet they still want to consume now and face the consequences later.

Thus the issue is not one of financial understanding but something more fundamental about discounting the future too strongly and not being able to exercise self control. Somehow we are teaching our young people that going for it all, right now is the right thing to do whether it is in financial decisions or anything else and unless we can change this mindset then supplying financial information will make no difference.

To pick an analogy, do you insist on wearing a condom despite the drawbacks or just go ahead with the moment trusting that medical science will deal with any infections or other problems that result.....

The more I think about it, the more I believe it is a fantastic idea. Well done Martin and Young Money. It might even encourage more interest in maths, or at least numeracy, from those who get turned off by the subject in secondary school when it doesn't seem to apply to the real world.

One topic I have not seen mentioned which I think should be covered is gambling - which has grown from an £8bn industry to a £14bn one in just 8 years.