How I felt about Money Matters by Nicole Kruse

It is becoming increasingly clear how crucial learning financial literacy is for the current and future generations. Money Matters by Nicole Kruse displays how society is not as good as managing money as we think we are. She dives into the research backing the importance of introducing curriculum for financial literacy in our schools, and gives real-world examples of how it should be taught.

Kruse starts off her article by stating her beliefs concerning how students are taught financial literacy. Kruse (2019) writes, “To be well-equipped, students must understand how to spend less than they earn and how to budget. They need to know about interest, saving, investing, credit and debt, taxes, and many more aspects of money management” (p. 42). She then describes that learning entrepreneurial skills is not only helpful to a student, but to communities as well. But with nobody teaching this, nobody can learn. 

In the section titled Where We Are Today, Kruse goes on to show the numbers behind how our country is doing when it comes to managing our money. Compared to the rest of the world, I would not say we are doing great. A statistic that stood out to me was, “In 2015, The National Financial Capability Study by FINRA Investor Education Foundation found that nearly two-thirds of all Americans couldn’t pass a basic financial literacy test, which included questions about financial risk and calculating interest” (Kruse, 2019, p. 42). I feel that shows a lot about our education system and country when it comes to our financial health. If a financial literacy curriculum was better implemented in our schools, the U.S would benefit substantially. 

The U.S is ranked 7th in the world when it comes to teaching financial subjects. However, teachers “admit that these are the last standards that are taught for a variety of reasons. First, the majority of time is spent on standards that are specifically targeted on state tests” (Kruse, 2019, p. 43). This makes me feel that our schools do not care about their students’ futures nearly as much as their state test scores.

In section What Can Be, Kruse suggests that independent schools have the freedom and ability to teach financial literacy. Aspen Academy, a pre-K through grade 8 school in Colorado, identified a need for “a wholly sequenced curriculum on financial literacy” (Kruse, 2019, p.44). Aspen Academy treated financial literacy just like math and English, and they found that, “By the time students graduate from eighth grade, they not only have learned about the stock market, budgeting, taxes, gross and net profits, credit, and interest, but they also have written business plans, started their own businesses, and pitched their ideas. They’re able to call on skills they’ve learned to manage their life and build their own opportunities” (Kruse, 2019, p. 45). In my personal experience, I am able to retain information from math and english courses because I have taken them every year. However, I do not remember anything from the financial literacy class I took my junior year of high school. I believe what Aspen Academy is doing is phenomenal.

I felt that this article really shows how important it is to teach the next generation about financial literacy. I liked how Kruse presented plenty of data to support her opinions. The most enjoyable part of the article for me was Aspen Academy’s approach to introducing a financial literacy curriculum. Their students are in a great school that truly cares for their success.