What are discretionary calories?
Why Financial Literacy Needs to be Taught in Schools
Financial literacy is required to manage money well. Young people who know how to manage money tend to feel secure about their future. It is important for young people to learn how to manage money so they can meet adult responsibilities both now and in the future. But few young people possess this knowledge or know where to get it. Schools need to provide financial education so youths can learn these skills.

Today's youth face a financial future that is more challenging than the one faced by previous generations. In a recent study, "The Financial Capability of Young Adults," Gary R. Mottola, Ph.D., found that millennials have more financial concerns than older generations. Mottola notes that almost 50 percent of millennials are worried that they have too much debt in general, often from credit cards.

Financial capability is knowing how to spend wisely, manage debt, and plan for the future. According to the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, financial capability is an effective way to help youth, no matter their circumstances, build economic security. For these reasons, youth should be educated about finances early in life.

Some might argue that in the era of online banking and financial services, formal knowledge of money management has become obsolete. Financial institutions offer a range of digital products that make rigorous financial literacy unnecessary for most people. However, this view is flawed. Those products are only as good as the people who design and manage them. And without the tools to understand how financial processes are performed by technological products, consumers are unable to evaluate their value or exercise their own self-interest.

As students approach high school graduation, they will make important decisions about whether to pursue higher education and if so, how to pay for it. Additionally, youth who do not attend college or trade school directly after high school will more quickly face financial responsibilities as adults. No matter what path they choose, learning how to manage money responsibly will help lead to financial well-being for young people.

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