financialeducationpetition.com discussion 19 April 2010 at 5:42PM edited 20 April 2010 at 3:12PM in Marriage, Relationships & Families 16 replies 3.6K views

Former_MSE_Wendy

We've lauched a new petition financialeducationpetition.com with Mumsnet to ask the new PM, who ever that is, to ensure financial education is made compulsory as soon as possible.

Sign up and have your say, or discuss below to let us know what you think

pre_gohil

I think its absolutely crazy that the government have decided to drop financial education as compulsory in schools especially as this is a nation that has been addicted to debt during the last 15-20 years and there are many adults out there who still fail to understand the basics of personal finance.

What I think would be a good idea, is if in PSHE lessons, rather than have teachers read off a printed sheet of paper 'teaching' kids about personal finance and boring them to death, is if local entrepreneurs/businesspeople, bank managers/staff and even those people who have been on the dark side of debt and felt the full force of creditors coming after them/faced bankruptcy to come in and talk to kids about their personal experiences with money and finance, and where to go for advice, give advice etc. (Of course what I don;t agree with is those jokers from Natwest on the TV adverts pretending to teach kids about personal finance when really they're trying to flog them a Student/Graduate account!!). Good impartial information is what these kids need.

A good place to start would be the basics of how a bank account works, what a direct debit is, how credit cards work, what interest rates are etc, and then move into more scenario-based sessions, e.g. Process of obtaining a mortgage, why lenders want security, difference between an ISA and a savings account, how to determine between useful information and marketing/sales gimmicks in product information, etc.

I realise this is a pretty long message, but this is something I feel pretty passionate about (bearing in mind I didn't know what interest rates were until I was 21, didn't know the difference between interest-only mortgage and repayment mortgage was until I was 24 and bought my first property) - I would absolutely have loved to have known all this important information earlier rather than panicky trying to find out so that these big companies wouldn't pull the wool over my eyes and take advantage of me!!

DarkConvict

If you read this previous blog and the news storyies - http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/?p=2800

The education was dropped because parliament was dissolved, the financial education was part of a bill, the education was done but other areas were not so the whole thing fell though. We the people just want to make sure that the financial education gets back in asap regardless.

I tried to do a petition like this on the number 10 website, but all petitions are closed until the new government is in.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Good grief, what on earth are you doing getting embroiled with a nest like Mumsnet? I thought MSE was independent and not allied to organisations such as the maternity leave wing of the Conservative Party.

OneADay

What a horrible thought - for Gawd's sake - teach people to add and subtract at school, how to calculate interest rates - hang on that is called "Maths" not "Financial Education". The rest comes from experience and knowledge in life.

kelloggs36

Financial education is very easy - if you can't afford to buy it, you can't have it!!!!! Half of the financial difficulties (not redundancies) are because people want something now and aren't prepared to save up for it. People don't seem to be able to say no to credit cards and the like and then start complaining that the banks put them in debt!! Whilst the fees are extortionate and unfair (in my view) for overdrafts, there is nobody holding a gun to anybody's head making anybody spend money on things they probably don't even need. All that needs to be taught is self discipline.

johnbarleycorn

OneADay wrote: »

What a horrible thought - for Gawd's sake - teach people to add and subtract at school, how to calculate interest rates - hang on that is called "Maths" not "Financial Education". The rest comes from experience and knowledge in life.

The comment from OneADay highlights the general ignorance about finance within society.The arithmetical/maths calculation can require more than just arithmetical ability , eg how many adults can differentiate between 4% flat and 8% APR.Understand that then you can use simple arithmetic to calculate interest.Terminology re banking,insurance,saving,mortgages ,pensions is where education is vital and should be compulsory for all 15/17 year olds,especially now with the upsurge in students having to take out loans for fees and living expenses!
For another day perhaps but there is also general ignorance in the population regarding an understanding of democracy and how it works in UK eg the debate about voting systems-PR,AV,AV+,STV,LIST-role of an MP,powers of the PM. Because history taught communist revolution and fascism/WW2,the majority of students left school with a greater knowledge of these two political systems than democracy.Add to which the failure to teach capitalism/free market v socialism/democratic socialism/social democracy.
OneADay can feel satisfied that I failed to convince Head Teachers over 30+ years teaching of the need for compulsory economic(finance cannot be taught in a vacuum) and political education for 15/16 year olds. If ignorance is bliss tis folly to be wise!

johnbarleycorn

pre_gohil wrote: »

I think its absolutely crazy that the government have decided to drop financial education as compulsory in schools especially as this is a nation that has been addicted to debt during the last 15-20 years and there are many adults out there who still fail to understand the basics of personal finance.

What I think would be a good idea, is if in PSHE lessons, rather than have teachers read off a printed sheet of paper 'teaching' kids about personal finance and boring them to death, is if local entrepreneurs/businesspeople, bank managers/staff and even those people who have been on the dark side of debt and felt the full force of creditors coming after them/faced bankruptcy to come in and talk to kids about their personal experiences with money and finance, and where to go for advice, give advice etc. (Of course what I don;t agree with is those jokers from Natwest on the TV adverts pretending to teach kids about personal finance when really they're trying to flog them a Student/Graduate account!!). Good impartial information is what these kids need.

A good place to start would be the basics of how a bank account works, what a direct debit is, how credit cards work, what interest rates are etc, and then move into more scenario-based sessions, e.g. Process of obtaining a mortgage, why lenders want security, difference between an ISA and a savings account, how to determine between useful information and marketing/sales gimmicks in product information, etc.

I realise this is a pretty long message, but this is something I feel pretty passionate about (bearing in mind I didn't know what interest rates were until I was 21, didn't know the difference between interest-only mortgage and repayment mortgage was until I was 24 and bought my first property) - I would absolutely have loved to have known all this important information earlier rather than panicky trying to find out so that these big companies wouldn't pull the wool over my eyes and take advantage of me!!

The above comment supports my argument for compulsory financial education.And he is right about banks touting for business in schools.

johnbarleycorn

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Financial education is very easy - if you can't afford to buy it, you can't have it!!!!! Half of the financial difficulties (not redundancies) are because people want something now and aren't prepared to save up for it. People don't seem to be able to say no to credit cards and the like and then start complaining that the banks put them in debt!! Whilst the fees are extortionate and unfair (in my view) for overdrafts, there is nobody holding a gun to anybody's head making anybody spend money on things they probably don't even need. All that needs to be taught is self discipline.

Easier said than done.Utopia is a long way off

Jo.G

johnbarleycorn wrote: »

The above comment supports my argument for compulsory financial education.And he is right about banks touting for business in schools.

My son is 10 and in Y5.
They had a visit in school from the Natwest who told his class they can all have a cash card at 16yrs and a credit card at 18yrs. Although they did mention that with a credit card they'd be spending 'the banks money and have to pay interest'.
My ten year old is still coming to terms with the value of money, I dont need a high street bank to tell him he can have a credit card in 8yrs time!

kelloggs36

johnbarleycorn wrote: »

Easier said than done.Utopia is a long way off

Go back a few years, it was possible then and even rare to rack up debts.