Benefits of a Personal Financial Literacy Class by Kylie

Benefits of a Personal Financial Literacy Class by Kylie - June 2018 Scholarship Essay

During my senior year I took a class called Personal Financial Literacy. It was a semester long class but taught me information that seems to be essential to being a successful adult in our society that will benefit me through out life. We began the semester going over things I thought were common sense such as the importance of earning an income and balancing a check book. As the chapters went on though, the content became more detailed and important. We went over the various ways to invest and save money as it pertained to a specific goal for the money. This included ways to plan for a retirement or different savings accounts for college, emergency funds, and down payments.
My teacher, Ms. Malena, covered topics I did not think were common practices like investing. She went over the importance of investing money in risky stocks when you are younger and buying when the stock market is low whereas when you’re an adult, moving your investments to safer options and taking it out before the market falls if you need it sooner. To help her students understand this topic, my teacher partnered with The Stock Market Game and a local bank. It allowed us to buy actual stock, bonds, or mutual funds to learn how the market works.
In addition to learning ways to obtain and store money, I was taught about the significance of building credit. This chapter opened the door to credit card debt and interest. She showed her classes the difference a higher credit score can make and how to obtain it. I learned about how quickly high interest rates effect the amount of money you pay back by just paying the minimum on credit card statements.
The use of credit led into borrowing money. We went over the variety of loans that are offered and how they utilize a credit score to decipher an interest rate. This would be use when buying a home, vehicle or any large investment.
After understanding large investments like auto or home, we began a chapter on insurance. This chapter was particularly eye opening for me because I was raised as an Air Force Brat so they paid for it all but as a civilian adult, these are things an adult would have to look into and begin paying into.
Overall the class was informative on things people should know to be successful in the adult world. I think topics like these can be boring but I had a teacher that made it stimulating and worth learning though the use of games and hands on learning activities. I believe this type of class should be required for all students because it teaches students the importance of how starting early in saving, investing, and building a credit score as well ways to find insurance, pay taxes, and manage money responsibly.