Subject: Personal Finance by Kelly

Subject: Personal Finance by Kelly - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

If I could add a subject to the American school curriculum, it would be Personal Finance. Personal Finance would teach students concepts such as budgeting, banking, insurance, and retirement plans. These are all skills that students will need once they enter the workforce and are skills that most young adults lack. Teaching students Personal Finance in high school will better prepare them for being successful the rest of their lives.

Being young myself, I understand the struggles of trying to figure out how to manage your money once you graduate from high school. No one teaches you how to decide what insurance company to choose or when to start a retirement plan, and no one teaches you how to plan a budget for the month or keep track of your bank accounts. Some of these things I still struggle with and feel that if someone had explained them in high school, I would have been better prepared for managing my personal finances once I graduated. Students need to know more than just to save as much money as possible.

Personal Finance would provide students with this knowledge. Students would look at different types of bank accounts and how to decide which account(s) are right for them. Then, students would learn how to determine what types of insurance they will need. This includes renter’s, homeowner’s, car, and motorcycle insurance. Students will then explore living expenses they would have such as electric and food. After learning about the different expenses they will have, students will learn how to create and maintain a monthly budget. Students would learn how to prepare for retirement. They would explore different retirement plan options and determine which one works best for them based on their intended career.

Knowing how to manage your money is a skill every student will need after high school. Personal Finance should be added to the American high school curriculum to teach students these skills. The skills discussed earlier are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to personal finance responsibilities. There are many more topics that would be discussed in a Personal Finance course that would help prepare students for being successful citizens.