A Surprising Referral

 

staying out of debt, and sometimes saving for things we wanted. The only thing your grandparents told me about money management was not to borrow.

"We couldn't teach you what we didn't know, and your grandparents couldn't teach us what they didn't know. I don't think it's our fault as a family. I suspect most people have the same problem, and I blame it partly on our educational system.

"Six years ago, when I finally learned the basics of fi-nancial planning, I couldn't believe how straightforward they were. It's just common sense. If I had looked into the fundamentals thirty years ago, or even fifteen years ago, your mother and I would be very well off today."

"And I'd love you even more than I do now," I inter-

jected. "But Dad, for someone who didn't know much, you seem to have done all right."

"All right," he echoed, "but not great. And the frus-trating part is that I now know great is achievable . . . easily achievable. It's incomprehensible to me that our state has not altered the school curriculum to include a basic family-finance course. All high school graduates should know how to fill out an income-tax form properly. They should know how to select their mortgage, how to finance their children's education, and how to save and plan for retirement.

"You know me, David. I've always been a big believer in public education, but that doesn't mean it can't use im-provement. There's no debating the fact that one of the most crucial improvements would be to teach basic money skills. We're raising generation after generation of financial illiterates. I don't think that even the politicians understand the tremendous benefits the economy would enjoy if Joe and Mary Average knew how to handle their money