The Future of Financial Literacy: Can We Raise Kids’ ‘Money IQ'?

The Buzz 1: “Reading and ‘riting and ‘rithmetic – taught to the tune of the hick’ry stick.” School Days, song written in 1907 by Will D. Cobb and Gus Edwards, is about a couple looking back sentimentally on primary school. The Buzz 2: “In the past, financial literacy has been pushed aside within K-12 schools. There has been a lack of agreement about how and what to teach.…Because financial education prepares students for the realities they’ll face in the real world and contributes directly to their future success, it deserves to hold the same priority as any other K-12 subject.” [Alice Lee fastcompany.com] The Buzz 3: “Students in states with financial education curricula are more likely to save and less likely to pay credit cards late…also more likely to be banked…Digital financial literacy is more front and center….” [ibid] The Buzz 4: “Preschool-aged children are capable of learning simple spending plans. Early training in categorizing money establishes patterns for future money-management behavior… the concept of dividing their money into categories – save, spend, share… understand money is limited in quantity…” [incharge.org] We’ll ask Karen Tenenbaum, Rumbi Petrozzello, Kelly Kirk-Xu, Mac Gardner and Annamaria Lusardi for their take on The Future of Financial Literacy: Can We Raise Our Kids’ ‘Money IQ’?