What Can Personal Finance Education Do for Us?

July 14, 2026

A recent CBS News article presented a dilemma involving personal finance, our financial system, and what to do about it.

“Economists and experts also point to a broader problem: Should the burden of knowledge be placed on consumers, or should the complex financial system be overhauled to make it easier for people to understand what they’re buying or signing for? Blaming consumers for failing to understand increasingly complicated products may miss the real problem, they argue.”

There are a lot of shoulds in that quote, and yes, it’s hard to know what should be done about financial literacy in America. Or is it?

Our financial system can be, to say the least:

• Complicated
• Innovative
• Unfair
• Resilient
• Fertile ground for corruption
• Volatile
• Full of opportunity

It’s also a moving target, defined by change, moves and countermoves.

So, where should the burden of learning how to function in our system land? According to NGPF’s (NextGen Personal Finance) latest data, that question has been addressed head-on in 30 states, which have either implemented a high school financial education requirement or are in the early stages of implementation. (Maine is not one of them, but a work group has been formed to study and report on the state of financial education in Maine schools, and I am excited to be a part of that team.)

Personal Finance Skills Are Everyday Skills

By the time this post comes out I will have just finished a small but important piece of the financial literacy effort in Maine—the 2026 session of FAME’s Personal Finance Institute, a summer course for high school students. The program provides students with a compact and intense foundation of personal finance skills including budgeting, credit, banking, investing, the value of and return on investment of education, and more.

As I built this year’s curriculum, I found myself increasingly focused on the why of each component. For example,

• build budgeting skills so that these students can…?
• teach them about the two-headed monster called compound interest because…?
• show them how to understand the return on investment of education so that…?
• discuss what it means to participate in our economy rather than simply watching from the sidelines will enable them to…?

I know these things are important pieces of navigating American capitalism, and I know that students don’t really yet understand why that is true. Then a sales training hook from early in my career reminded me, “features tell, benefits sell.”

What Are the Benefits of Financial Education?

 For starters:

• money literacy, understanding trade and exchange, building vocabulary
• learning that saving now can provide something later
• putting math skills into practical action
• experiencing the cost-benefit of money decisions
• analyzing the opportunity and impact around a six-figure education decision
• developing a defense against the marketing and consumption machine
• hard skills like budgeting and understanding compound interest
• grasping the importance of banking in our financial system
• understanding the power of time when it comes to education and retirement savings
• evaluating work and career moves from many perspectives, not just today’s salary

And so on, and so on. Wait a minute—what’s missing?

How Do Students Feel about Financial Education?

This list would not be complete without hearing directly from students. Fortunately, I just spent a week with that audience, and here is what they said. (These students represent the following high schools: Scarborough, Cheverus, Greely, Portland, Deering, Falmouth, Casco Bay, Waynflete.)

Financial education is important because it helps us manage our money responsibly and work towards long-term wealth and life goals.

I believe that personal finance is one of the most important factors in how someone reaches their goals. In today’s world, it’s nearly impossible to do anything without money to back it up, so it’s crucial to know how to use that money to protect and strive towards your future.

Financial education is important because it helps you know how to manage money in different ways. This can be filing taxes, getting a car and saving for that and even buying big things like houses.

To me, financial literacy is the key to not falling behind in life. Anyone can work hard and make quick money but if you don’t know how to budget, save and build wealth, you’re wasting your time.

I believe financial education is important because it helps people learn about how the financial world works and how to make smart decisions about their money.

I believe financial education is important because it helps you play the game so you can make informed decisions with your money and not get taken advantage of.

Financial education and literacy is vital for a number of reasons. I believe one of the largest reasons why it is so vital is that being literate and having knowledge about a diverse range of financial topics helps us navigate life much easier and will set us up for success in our future adult lives. From topics like budgeting to filling out tax return forms and insurance, they all set us up to make life easier and more prosperous in the future for us. 

If we can manage and be smart with finances now it will be less hard later in life. when there’s so much money that we have to take out of our paycheck to contribute to society and get by, finding a way to do that with ease and form a profit over time through savings and interest.

Financial education is important because it prevents you from being taken advantage of and can be the difference between falling below the poverty line or beating the system.

Financial knowledge can be easily converted into power and self-sufficiency within the economy. Having the proper financial education can get you thinking about your place in the economy years before it even recognizes you as part of the machine.

It gives a strong base to get into the world of finance. The financial system is hard to understand, and it’s easy to get off track and make mistakes that will make your life much harder.

Financial education is one of the very things that would help many Americans with their decisions regarding money. Honestly, the week that I spent here learning about taxes, interest, insurance, student loans, etc., is something that will last me a lifetime, especially in my upcoming years towards college. The most important thing I learned and plan on implementing into my life is that you cannot expect to be rich by borrowing money. 

Class dismissed—for now.