Guess what? Most Americans are not financially literate
- The nearly half of Americans do not own stocks.
- The majority of Americans do not plan for their retirement.
- The myth still exists that a home is some kind of asset rather than a liability.
- The majority of Americans are in debt, whether it be college debt, a mortgage, a car loan, or all of that.
In my previous post I mentioned that most Americans do not own a passport and don't travel. In this post, the statistic is that nearly half of Americans still down own stock.
In my opinion every parent should gift for Christmas at least one share of any stock to their child. This could be a penny stock, a stock worth $1, really just anything. By giving the gift of a stock you can help teach your child financial literacy for the same price that the Nintendo or whatever video game would cost. I was fortunate enough to have people in my family who collected stuff like rare coins, and other similar valuables. What I learned is that collecting, whether it be cards such as baseball cards, coins, toys, can be financially rewarding if that which is collected is kept in good condition.
"The system" is fucked, and owning assets might be the one way for Gen Y to have a chance to retire. Financial literacy is now a must have. Of course many of us here are financially literate as many people get introduced to crypto assets and learn from Bitcoin, Ether, etc just how important it is to hold assets rather than fiat.
Happens the same here on Spain (E.U). The more I get into blockchain the more I learn about real economics and investment decitions.... we are responsible for learning, I need it
The smart thing I've learned is the difference between "money" and "assets". The wealth isn't stored as money. Wealth is stored in assets which potentially gain value over time.
Most people are taught to go to school (college) which means taking out a loan. Then get married, buy a house (which often means a mortgage). And of course people are told to get a job (sacrifice time for money so they can pay their debts).
Does this track make sense anymore for Gen Y?
Most people don't even think about this stuff and just do it because they are supposed to. Buying an asset isn't often discussed. Families don't usually pressure their children to buy assets or stocks and may even discourage them from pursuing that.
I have seen many families live from paycheck to paycheck but I can certainly agree with the idea of starting a small stock , doesn't have to be a lot . It teaches kids the ability to learn finances and the ability to watch something grow . In my opinion, that would motivate me personally to keep going
It's just about inspiring kids. I grew up too poor to have an allowance or anything like that. But I did know about collectibles and that knowledge helped me to easily grasp the value of Bitcoin. Growing up I used to be one of the people who collected baseball cards thinking they'll be worth a fortune.
Man .. I can relate in so many ways . I used to always collect Yu Gi Yo cards and all the shiny ones ( over 1,000) thinking that I would sell them when I grow up because they would be worth a lot . It's always the thought of the present that secures us to look forward to a better future
Financial literacy is very important, but I don't think anyone who is financially literate would touch the stock market with a 10 foot pole. Stocks are ridiculously overvalued, only a fool would go there now just before thwe massive crash that's coming.
I think it depends on what stocks and if you know how to analyze securities. Fortunately you can learn when a stock is over or under valued for the price.
We live in a nation where people buy cars, houses, consumer electronics and data plans they can't afford already, why add stocks to that mix?
Very true, but it's not just the US...
A thousand thanks my brother for this place
Your article makes me think of the now defunct MyRA plan by B.O. that was a total disaster for lower income people. You have to get a laugh when a banker boasts about less than 1% interest on savings/checking accounts/some CDs.
Inflation is greater than 1%. So what exactly is 1% interest?
You haven't addressed why most people are illiterate: because The Rockefeller's and other oligarchs at the turn of the century made education about becoming their work slaves.
They've turned the earth into a casino during that time and blame the victims for their misery. A complete reboot on education is in order......
To be clear: I don't have a problem with your post, only pointing out that all issues have root causes........
Here is a link to someone who is addressing foundational structural problems: https://libertyblitzkrieg.com
Why play the victim and blame the old rich families for what you and or everyone else does? You know there is an Internet now and libraries exist? The Rockefellers might even have funded some of these libraries.
When we can stop blaming other more successful families then we can think about how to solve our own problems. Blaming it on Rockefeller or Rothschild or any other prominent rich family doesn't fix anything.
Sure it has root causes but how is this different than if black people blame illiteracy on racism? Yeah racism exists and it historically has had an impact but it's also 2017. Parents have to teach their children how to read and if you find a child who does not have responsible parents then you can teach them. You can set up a blog to teach financial literacy or just make posts like I try to do also.
Hi dana, you've misunderstood my post to be about any particular family. The names of the families are not important but the corrupt systems they've put in place are. I don't know if you've educated yourself in Integral Theory ( you should, IMO) but the post I'll link explains why these lower right economic structures are so problematic and why they can't be corrected by any individual upper left quad.efforts ...
http://www.integralworld.net/dillard10.html
Socialization of the creation of currencies is a first essential step in the right direction. I prefer www.positivemoney.org compared to the blockchain, but I am by no means against the blockchain.
This is class related, to a large extent. Us working class people tend to think, with good reason, that the stock market is a game for the upper and middle class. A lot of my working class friends(and myself) have a deep disgust for capitalism, and rightly so, and feel like staying far away from it.
Of course, this is not entirely rational, as having a job is also participating in the capitalist game, but mostly on the losing side.
Investment in the stock market is unfortunately not much better, as you run the risk of losing it all, which is a big deal when you have no margin. Without proper start-up capital it's probably not going to amount to anything. Crypto is different, as it's growing quickly, and there is money to be made if you are smart. But still, the majority of the profits go to the one percent, as usual.
I believe you are right that it is a class thing but I think that a large part of it is that parents who don't know how to manage their finances can't teach their children to manage finances. This reinforces the old theme of "the rich get richer". The children of those who are well off are taught and encouraged from an early age as to what must be done to keep their standard of living. They would also find it very nice that they also have a parental cushion to fall back on if there is disaster or they need a backer for what they want to do, but in the end it has a lot to do with knowledge.
Well said, and I largely agree. But it still stands that without proper start-up capital, you can make profits, but it's very slow. And if you take risks, you might be in deep trouble.
The disgust for capitalism or the idea that money isn't important doesn't help people out of poverty in a world where money determines everything you can do. I empathize with the working class but I don't see worker as being a 'noble identity".
Oh, I completely agree. That's why I'm into crypto. And I have an identity as working class, not as a worker. My disgust for wage labour doesn't equal my disgust for capitalism, but not too far off. I believe in helping others, not working for capitalists, or governments.
I believe in post-scarcity, as I think you do too.
One other staple of financial literacy: Approach life like a publicly traded company, our "revenue" is very important, but expense management also so (the whole "P&L").