Let’s talk about Money
Not me and you per se, but to our students.
Ask most educators and they will agree that they want to make sure students are prepared for the world they go into once they leave our schools. Whether that’s to the big scary secondary they’ll be entering, college, or the workplace, we want our students to prosper. We ensure they are equipped to the best of our ability with a broad vocabulary, mathematical skills but not the one thing that will, whether we like to admit it or not will determine how happy they are, (to an extent, I say to an extent because a decade-old study by Angus Deaton, the 2015 Nobel laureate in economics, found that the correlation between emotional wellbeing and income tops out once a person earns $75,000. Although more recent studies have refuted this.)
As a Business and Economics teacher I’m surprised by how many students come into my classroom with extreme views to money. As young as 14 some see it as the root of all evil, when we discuss why an entrepreneur starts a business I usually get one of two responses 1) to make loads of money and have fast cars and yachts or b) to express themselves through whatever they create. There’s not much in between. This unrealistic understanding of money is something I have been interested in for a while now.
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Back in 2014 I worked at a comprehensive where I worked with a group of 5 girls from very difficult backgrounds and as a result significant behaviour issues. I’d have an hour with them a week to discuss ambitions for the future. We would explore careers, talk about the dream lives they wished to live, their fears of the future. I loved that hour with them. They always brought their whole selves to that session and left their attitudes at the door. In one session I decided to help them map out what level of income they would need depending on their expected expenditure. Any ideas how much they wanted to spend a year?
Quarter of a million pounds.
They were shocked when I said this was unlikely to happen.
Here were 5 girls that we were desperately trying to get ready for the world beyond the classroom and they had no idea about what they could earn and what that would buy them.
If you ask me that is a disservice. The picture doesn’t get any better with students who may come from a more privileged background, I’ve asked the same questions over and over again and it becomes clear that students don’t know where to start with money, how much they need or what living in the UK costs.
Similarly for the past 7 years I have asked groups of students how much they think they will need on a yearly basis to be happy. To really feel they have made it. The response. 99% of the time. £1 million. They can’t tell me why? Just seems like a nice figure. Would they be happy with £500,000? They shrug. £80,000. Again blank stares.
So this series of blogs is about Money. Areas I hope to cover:
Living expenses:
- What kind of life students hope to lead and how much it will cost them
- Why save?
- Interest
- Pay yourself first
- The value of giving
- Salaries
- Inflation
- Is it worth going to uni
- How to build a strong credit score
- The difference between debit and credit
Taxes:
- Different types
- Where does tax money go?
Entrepreneurship and multiple sources of income:
- The value of the side hustle
- How do you start a business?
The Market:
- Shares and investing
- Shorting
- Supply and Demand
Hell maybe you want to learn about money? Maybe the above questions are questions you haven’t explored either. I know I didn’t until I was about 30.
For each one I will also provide resources that you can use in the classroom.
I hope it helps.
Anyone who would like to collaborate is more than welcome to contact me on @noonetoldmehow
Any feedback welcome.
Flowers much appreciated 😉
Please Note: Resources will be published on a weekly basis and a link will be sent to your inbox 🙂