What do you wish you had been taught?

Jnelhams

The dangers of inflation at even very low levels. Compound Interest, not spending payrises and bonuses but saving them instead - so as not to live beyond your means if you salary drops again. Taking out PHI insurance & Pensions whilst you are young. How to invest in Investment Trusts for long term savings, using inflation to help buy a property with an interest only mortgage (you still have to save in an ISA or you'll end up homeless) Budgeting your money, using your freezer to buy food that 's been reduced in the supermarket, growing your own food. All these would help kids today as would learning to cook!

sonastin

How to assess the whole cost of a purchase...
-the cash you pay for it
-the implication of not having the cash in the bank if an unexpected crisis happens tomorrow (you have £100 left so you buy trainers because you can afford them... and then your car fails its MOT - how much extra will you have to spend on bus fare to get to work because the £100 isn't in the bank to get your car on the road?)
-the cost of the interest if you buy it on credit (£100 trainers actually cost £??)
-the loss of the interest if you own the item rather than keep the money in the bank (at the end of the year, your £100 trainers are a pair of tatty trainers. £100 left in the bank would have been ... OK £103 if you're lucky but that's a posh coffee!)
-the saving against inflation if you buy now rather than later (wait until next year when you really need new trainers and find they now cost £110, but you've only got £105 in the bank - a loss of £5 by not buying them?)
-the saving of operating cost buy upgrading to a more efficient model (on things like white goods, cars, etc where keeping the old one running could be costing more in parts/maintenance/power(fuel) in a year/two years/whatever than trading up)

There can be a lot more to personal economics than just the money in your bank account. Sometimes you're better off spending to save. Sometimes you need to just straightforward save. The art is knowing how to tell the difference.

Jnelhams

Learning to Sew (Well at my school boys and girls were taught but then the 1970's schools were free to teach, so I can.) Learn to plan and cook normal staple meals, Spag Bog, Roast , etc. DIY not spending weeks making a screwdriver in Metal Work classes.

There are so many things I think Kids in School should be taught, but the education system seems to be upside down and daft. Do you really need to know Algebra, Trigonometry, Metal Work? - These things should be taught if you decide to take these subjects at GCSE / A level, and more time spent preparing children for real life and all the joys of putting up a shelf, fixing a plug and working the washing machine.

Floozie

Housekeeping/cleaning. My late mum was more interested in her farm and was always outside on the farm rather than the house. I was never told the basic principles of basic housekeeping and cleaning so I have had to learn myself, probably not doing a very good job compared to other peoples homes but I am trying!

nearlyrich

I second the pension, so many people think they are a bad thing these days because of negative press over the years. Also young people who come form homes with reasonable incomes setting up on their own on lower wages don't always realise how much things cost.

gallygirl

The fact that if you take out a loan you're not borrowing from the bank, but yourself. Maybe yourself 3 years down the line when you can't save for a decent car to get to work because you're still paying off those holidays 3 years ago.

Naf

gallygirl wrote: »

The fact that if you take out a loan you're not borrowing from the bank, but yourself. Maybe yourself 3 years down the line when you can't save for a decent car to get to work because you're still paying off those holidays 3 years ago.

I keep joking that I'm 'borrowing from my future self' when I take money from my savings that's technically budgeted for later. I joke, but its true really...

Uniscots97

How to sew a button on

How to pay bills

How to work out which is the cheapest in the supermarket (comparing weights etc)

How to make things from leftovers (and that cooking from fresh is usually cheaper)

If they run a car/scooter that prevention is better than cure (check oil/tyres/coolant) and how to budget for tax/insurance etc

msb5262

Interesting thread...

I think the best thing to teach young people is the underlying, unchanging cost of things - my kids don't seem to get that my pay each month isn't what I've got to spend!

It doesn't occur to them that as well as the mortgage, I have to pay for council tax, house insurance, car insurance, life insurance, savings, car tax, TV licence, water rates, bills for gas/electricity/landline/mobile/broadband and of course fares/lunch money/shoes/subscriptions for them...all before I can spend anything on food, petrol or going out. Pet expenses, holidays and house maintenance all have to be factored in too.

The way I work in my head is to add up all the "underlying costs" listed above over 12 months, divide into a monthly amount, add a bit more for contingencies and then take that amount out of my income each month. What is left is what I can spend. You can of course do this by putting the "spends" money into a different account but I don't bother.

This simple method (as explained by Shirley Conran in her brilliant book "Superwoman") has served me well over the whole of my adult life. I really wish everyone could be taught it in secondary school...

Naf

Direct debits, standing orders, bank charges.
Companies push DD as its 'easier' and 'convenient'; but if you're on a lower income those claims only apply to them. For you it becomes hassle and costly when DDs bounce the day before money comes in, or if a payment in is delayed or short.