Financial Literacy for Our Youth:
Creating A More Powerful Generation
By M. Tonita Austin-Hilley
My parents never talked about money. My father brought home
the paycheck (or what was left of it), my mother struggled
to make ends meet with what she had to work with, and credit
cards were used to rob Peter and pay Paul. It was always
a balancing act. As a lower middle class family, we equated
credit with success; my mother could walk into any department
store and purchase on credit, even though there were many
times when we had to ask our neighbors for food. Money was
not saved and credit was not respected. My grandparents
never had credit so my parents were never taught its power
and ability to destroy their net worth. And so this unhealthy
relationship with money and credit was passed on to my generation.
Children learn what they live.
I walked away from college with an
entry-level position and eleven credit cards. I was addicted
to credit. I mistakenly believed that credit, not money
was power. It was thrilling as a college student to have
your application accepted for just about every major credit
card, department store and chain of gas stations in the
country. I could pick and choose my vice. It bought me everything
I wanted and I could always manage to make the minimum payments,
so I bought more and more and more. I thought of those days
when I had to wait for a new coat, and saw this as the door
to fortune. I would never have to worry about not having
what I wanted. I ate at the finest restaurants and hardly
ever wore the same outfit twice. College had really paid
off for me (or so I thought), but with paying only the minimum
on my credit cards, who was paying off my college tuition?
Slowly but surely, my finances caught
up with me and like so many, I found myself dodging the
bill collectors and dreading the mailbox full of bills and
cancellation notices. It brought such shame and embarrassment.
With a degree in Economics, I knew nothing about budgeting
money, abusing credit or saving money. It’s not taught
in most schools – post secondary or college –
and few states require their high school students to take
a financial literacy class. I pray that our children will
do better than we did; but it starts with us.
We should not send our children out
into the world with a financial handicap, but that is what
we are doing. We spend thousands of dollars in the beauty
salon or in the mall, but we wince at spending $75 on a
session with a financial advisor. Debt counselors cost nothing
but we are too ashamed to admit that we are not in control
of our finances, so we don’t call. Some financial
advisors will give free consultations, but we tell ourselves
that we are not worth much, so why would they spend the
time? We know we should keep a household budget, but we
don’t want to see in black and white just how many
bills we have.
I’ve heard them all and have
told myself the same things in the past. We are so afraid
of money’s power that we allow fear to make our choices
instead of knowledge. Knowledge is truly power.
Everyone who knows me, knows that
I have three passions; writing, teaching and children. I
volunteered one Saturday morning, to teach a financial literacy
class to a group of young ladies ranging from 12 years to
16 years old. I sat and listened with great intent as they
each stood up to talk about their dream homes, cars and
aspirations; five-bedroom homes with two-car garages, heated
pools, landscapers, hot tubs and every luxury imaginable.
The cars ranged from practical to performance luxury and
I couldn’t wait for my turn!
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