Comments on: Can You Make Others Care About Personal Finance?

By: John

John — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:07:03 +0000

I have always thought that by the time you try to teach someone about how to correctly manage their personal finances, it is usually because they are already having trouble with them (whether they know it or not.) If credit cards can spend billions each year to advertise to teens and college students, why can the states not start a high school or even middle school program that helps instill the importance of budgets, saving for retirement, and paying in cash when these kids are young and responsive to learning opportunities. It has become the society that we live in now that financial products are varied and confusing and we don’t even attempt an explanation of the basics to americas youth. We create classes to teach computers and the internet to kids as society changes, so why not realize that financial basics are now a major part of modern society?

By: Save Money Hound

Save Money Hound — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:23:53 +0000

I think everyone should care about their own personal finances but some can go through their whole life not caring about it or passing on the responsibility to others. Perhaps there should be a role in our education system to provide kids at an early age with some financial literacy skills.

By: Lucia

Lucia — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:07:32 +0000

I just moved in with my significant other and I’m struggling with this very topic. I grew up with frugal parents and now I work in personal finance, so its something I’m passionate about. I’m very conscious about my spending habits, savings, retirement and so forth. My boyfriend on the other hand is the complete opposite. He does not pay any attention to his finances nor does he care about the long term. I’m trying to teach him (and I have been since long before we moved in together) but its a very, very slow process. I would have to agree that its something they need to realize for themselves or else it takes a lot of hand holding!

By: Wojciech

Wojciech — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:42:57 +0000

I think it all comes down to motivation in the end, and the recession has been motivating many to start caring.

In my own life, I’ve found that starting a personal finance blog has gotten many (25-50%) of the people around me who have never been interested in money and frugality before to start asking questions. And that leads to real learning and change…

So I think we’re seeing positive change. All we can do as individuals (particularly bloggers) is try to inform the public, and we may end up influencing someone close to us, too.

By: me in millions

me in millions — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:07:44 +0000

I wish I could make others care. And I wish money and personal finance was not such a taboo topic. I love talking about it!

By: Mneiae

Mneiae — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:56:38 +0000

Yes, it is totally possible to make others a little more aware. You may not be able to make them start a budget, but you can discuss retirement savings, emergency funds, etc. because those make sense at a very simple level.