You Can Help Create Generational Financial Literacy
Knowledge may be power, but it isn’t money. When you read think pieces about how the millions of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck despite working at least 40 hours per week are struggling financially because they are ignorant, your first instinct is to tell those journalists to tell you to your face that you are ignorant. Then you remember that the authors of such content are struggling freelancers just like you, that they are juggling so many responsibilities that they don’t have time to consult a thesaurus and think through the connotations of all the words that the thesaurus considers plausible substitutes for “ignorant,” and it starts to make more sense. You have read every personal finance article online, and you are still broke. You understand about saving and investing, but all your money goes to this week’s groceries and buy now pay later (BNPL) payments on last week’s groceries. Being told that you should educate yourself sounds like an insult, right up there with being told to think positive. Consider, however, that just as those think piece authors who sound more smug on paper than they probably are in real life are getting paid to participate in the financial literacy discourse economy, so can you. To find out how best to get out of debt with the money you earn as a personal finance professional, contact a Plantation debt lawyer.
Perhaps the Financial Literacy Teacher You Need Is in the Mirror
Florida is one of a growing number of states that require high school students to take a financial literacy course before they graduate. Certainly, there is no harm in students learning about personal finance, but requiring financial literacy courses is the “let them eat cake” of anti-poverty initiatives. State lawmakers are telling students what to do with money they don’t have, while wages remain low and prices remain high. On the other hand, the new requirement for financial literacy classes has created a demand for financial literacy teachers. At least 18,000 positions for these teachers remain vacant as of May 2024, and one of them could be you.
To become a financial literacy teacher, you must take a training course. According to a recent article on Education Week, people who have recently become certified to teach financial literacy feel as unprepared for the classroom as new teachers of any subject, but they do feel empowered by their knowledge of personal finance, perhaps due in part to the money they are getting from their new gig. Besides, the best way to learn something is by teaching it, and the only way to get good at teaching is to practice doing it. Perhaps you can put your income from your new job as a financial literacy teacher toward the debt avalanche.
Work With a Debt Lawyer About Getting Out of Debt
A South Florida debt lawyer can help you implement your proposed solutions if you think you already know how to get out of debt. Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Plantation, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
edweek.org/leadership/opinion-personal-finance-courses-are-booming-do-we-have-the-teachers-we-need/2024/05
