Empowering the Future:
How Financial Literacy can Reinvent Common Core

Think about when you graduated from highschool or earned your first paycheck. Do you think you were financially versed enough to navigate the financial complexities that come with adulthood? Learning as a child or a teenager about financial education is a crucial skill to be exposed to at a young age since each person will eventually need to open a bank account, learn about taxes, credit, investments, and how to safely use debt. Without a framework to work with, young adults might not have the competency to conceptually understand how to become financially literate. Financial education should be incorporated into the Common Core curriculum. Aside from the basic topics such as math, science, english, and social studies, students should be exposed to different levels of financial education across all age groups just as they are with foreign languages.

Inadequate financial competency has been absent in the education system and has hindered students and adults from fully understanding how to allocate their resources effectively in order to attain financial stability and independence. Unless otherwise exposed to outside of the classroom, students lack the understanding of the crucial skills that are applicable to the real world. Skills such as learning about understanding savings, checking, and retirement accounts; the pros and cons of debt; importance of credit; how to use leverage; appreciating assets; and even creating a budget or financial plan is absent from the education system. According to the New Jersey Coalition for Financial Education,” 88% of U.S. adults said high school did not leave them “fully prepared” for how to handle money in the real world.” Won’t it be beneficial if there was a way to merge applied and theoretical knowledge? Take mathematics for example, students at a young age learn about percents, decimals, fractions, ratios, and even a variety of algebraic skills, but lack the understanding of how to apply such skills. Students, regardless of age, can learn how percentages for example can be applied to financing car payments; estimating savings/retirement account balances; and calculating compounded interest when reinvesting money. Ratios can be applied to mortgages to help students understand how to balance debt versus equity. Even in geometry, the skills involved in learning how to calculate and convert units of measurement along with computing the square footage can be useful when estimating construction costs for purchasing wood, tile, stucco, paint, and other building materials.

Matt Delaney from JDH Wealth Management in Santa Rosa makes it clear that financial literacy in high schools are pivotal in teaching the youth about how credit, leverage, and savings works. He says, “Too many people think that they are getting ahead by earning 3% on their money at the bank when they have $10,000 in credit card debt, making the minimum payments and paying 25% in interest.” The concept of “savings” doesn’t actually mean that you are becoming wealthier and young adults are slowly learning this reality now that they are struggling to learn how to manage money. There is an urgent need to teach young people how to budget, make projections, and effectively plan for the future so that they can make effective financial decisions. Learning how to integrate the basics of math at an elementary level and even the concepts taught in algebra and geometry for example could set up students with the foundations needed to pave the way for a solid financial background. Without integrating financial literacy into mathematics and enabling students with a quantitative mindset, these challenges can propel them further into debt, only intensifying the crisis.

Financial education isn’t just about money and understanding numbers. It's also about understanding how the historical trends of the financial markets, government decisions, and the economic principles put into place help guide and influence our decisions. Understanding history enables us to discover past occurrences and determine how to make practical decisions to avoid reliving and repeating mistakes. This is particularly why students learn about social studies and history in school, but think about how much more effective social studies and history class would be if it also covered history of money; the principles of supply and demand economics; the role of credit in our society; and the historical trends and impacts that the financial markets have on on underlying assets and our livelihoods. According to May Suiter, Scott A Wolla, and Lilly Levin from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “Economics is one of the core disciplines of social studies. [Economics and financial literacy], prepares students for their postsecondary futures. This includes the disciplinary practices and literacies needed for college-level work in social studies academic courses, and the critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative skills needed for the workplace.” As of July 2024, 26 states also share this sentiment and understand the importance of incorporating financial literacy into the curriculum. By integrating financial literacy into social studies, we can study past events such as market crashes, inflation, influences on the cost of goods and services, and government policies to ensure that these past events don’t happen again. Students learning about financial history can learn more about the monetary supply and its role throughout history.

Financial literacy also delves into the realm of English Language Arts (ELA), where communication skills learned through research projects, speeches, presentations, and group work build a foundation for success in professional and financial settings. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 91% of employers rate communication as essential, noting its importance for effective negotiation, networking, sales, and teamwork. ELA courses teach students to articulate ideas and present arguments clearly, preparing them for practical scenarios like negotiating loan terms, discussing investments, or building a case for a business proposal. Strong writing skills are also vital for marketing and social media, where persuasive communication directly impacts brand messaging, audience engagement, and campaign success. 73% of hiring managers consider effective writing to be a key skill according to Forbes. Even those skilled in quantitative analysis need these skills to communicate findings clearly to audiences less familiar with technical language, making ELA-based training relevant across many fields. Furthermore, ELA coursework prepares students to interpret financial documents, an area where only 27% of adults feel confident, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Skills like comprehension, analytical thinking, and close reading enable students to better navigate credit applications, loan agreements, and contracts, avoiding costly mistakes. Integrating financial literacy into ELA curricula doesn’t just enhance education; it equips students with critical tools to make informed financial decisions and confidently face complex financial scenarios in adult life.

This program is crucial for our society because it best prepares students to be financially aware. Without making this program, most students will not be able to support themselves in the future. The reason why many students are not able to understand the concepts of saving, buying, and investing money is because they lacked the knowledge when they were in high school or becoming young adults. According to Ineducationonline, “Teaching kids how to save over time slowly will allow them to make wiser financial decisions regarding money. Even for little purchases, teaching kids to save will enforce lifelong habits that will benefit them later in life. This ensures confidence when it comes to managing money in the long term.” Teachers that don’t fully understand financial literacy can learn by using online websites or tools. This can be done by making stock market simulations or even finance apps to make the experience more fun for students. The website “ The Education Plan” explains how teachers can emphasize the importance of college. By doing this, the students can realize how important long term saving can help them in the near future.

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Implementing a financial literacy program in schools presents several substantial challenges. First, an already crowded curriculum runs the risk of further strain on budgets and available funds, which can also potentially take time away from core subjects like math, science, and language arts. Reduced classroom time will without a doubt impact students' competency of foundational skills. Research indicates that financial education alone may have limited long-term effects on behavior. A Harvard study demonstrated only a 0.1% correlation in improved decision-making skills when integrating finance into education. Additionally, financial literacy may not feel relevant for lower-income students, especially when topics like investing and portfolio management seem beyond their current needs. Teacher readiness is another significant drawback since only about 20% of educators feel adequately trained to teach financial topics, leading to inconsistent and potentially ineffective instruction. Finally, there are concerns about biases that can arise when financial literacy programs are developed in partnership with banks or other financial entities, which could be tailored to promote products rather than instilling practical, objective financial skills. Such is the case with Ridgewood Savings Bank where the institution promotes financial education and opening savings accounts to students in exchange for matching initial deposit amounts. The risk of biased curricula raises concerns and questions about the value of the program and whether it genuinely serves students' best interests.

Despite these concerns, the benefits of incorporating financial literacy into the common core education system outweighs the potential drawbacks. Financial literacy can be integrated across subjects, enhancing students’ understanding of core topics like math and social studies through practical, real-world applications. Though these changes might seem daunting and not practical, long-term studies from FINRA reveal that individuals exposed to financial education early on are 17% less likely to face severe debt later in life, evidencing that the preventive measures taken now at an early education might prevent personal financial crisis. By teaching practical skills such as budgeting, saving, and understanding debt, schools provide all students with essential knowledge that fosters independence and resilience, helping to bridge socio-economic gaps. With proper teacher training and balanced, unbiased materials, financial literacy can empower students to make informed, responsible choices in adulthood, proving it is a valuable investment in students’ futures and a critical addition to modern education.

In a society where financial education is absent from the majority of the curriculum across the nation, students need to learn how to best utilize financial skills to enhance their future. The best possible way for that to happen is if educators equip students with the necessary skills at a young age. Creating educational and captivating lessons is important because students will become versatile with the foundational skills needed to comprehend the financial complexities that they will encounter as they get older. Without the knowledge from this program, students will not be able to comprehend the basic and essential skills needed in the real world. Fusing financial literacy and the common core curriculum standards will create a new shift in the education system, bridging the gap between inequality and equipping students from a variety of backgrounds with the skills needed to navigate the financial complexities that they will one day encounter.