Mary Lou Retton Fighting for Her Life in ICU

[lanejudy]

I suspect teaching it in school would never work. Too many parents would object because it seems they don't believe in a need to be financially responsible.

Our high school requires a personal finance course.

 

[londonderrydisneyfan]

LOL. Playing with statistics I see.

That's not really playing with statistics, the median net worth represents the average American better than the mean net worth figure does.

 

[gmi3804]

One guy in particular said he couldn't afford the $60 every two weeks taken out of his paycheck to get the 4% company match. This would be the same guy who admitted, he spend $200 every weekend in bars.

Priorities! Gotta have that Big Wedding (a euphemism for a want, not a need)!

Suze Orman once said that you should stop spending money you don't have on things you don't need to impress people you don't like. Or some such thing. Message received!

 

[gmi3804]

Our high school requires a personal finance course.

Very interesting. Private school? What do they teach?

 

[Moliphino]

That's not really playing with statistics, the median net worth represents the average American better than the mean net worth figure does.

Yeah, that's why the article's headline is misleading, "The standard American household is now a millionaire, according to the Federal Reserve". They buried the much lower median net worth inside the text.

 

[lanejudy]

Very interesting. Private school? What do they teach?

Public high school. As I recall it included banking and financial, using and maintaining a checking and/or savings account, basics on investment, how to read a paycheck, basics on taxes, making and managing a budget, short vs long term savings goals, credit cards and loans, risk and insurance.

That's the required class for graduation. There is also two 1-semeseter electives available as "Applied Math" that cover some of the same topics, possibly more in-depth on some.

 

[leeniewdw]

There's a great line in Citizen Kane:

Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money if all you want is to make a lot of money.

Many people don't make saving for retirement enough of a priority, or even know the time value of money. The Big Expensive Wedding is a great example, a thing you think you "need," even if you can't pay for it. I've always maintained that basic finance should be taught in primary/high school. That knowledge goes much further to establishing financial security than almost anything else you'd learn at school.

If MLR has financial problems, she certainly wouldn't be the first professional athlete that ended up broke. Whether it's living like you are still raking in millions, or because you/your spouse got involved in a terrible investment of some sort....it happens. It's always a shame, because at some point in their wealthy era, they had access to all sorts of advice and resources that the average joe doesn't. Of course, that doesn't mean they were good at it I guess.

The "good" thing for MLR is that she still has earning ability. Maybe she's not going to make 7 figure endorsements anymore but she can certainly make enough money with relative ease to pay for health insurance. Comicon like appearances, commercials, etc.

I was shocked when I retired and found out that only 34% of the employees at the corporation I worked for take part in the 401k plan.

Shocking.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our high school requires a personal finance course.

Our state requires it for HS graduation. https://www.nj.gov/education/standards/clicks/finlit.shtml

 

[SirDuff]

Yeah, that's why the article's headline is misleading, "The standard American household is now a millionaire, according to the Federal Reserve". They buried the much lower median net worth inside the text.

Oh, but TVguy would never be misled by a headline. After all, due to his previous career, he always asks questions about what he reads and researches to get the right answer.

 

[tvguy]

Oh, but TVguy would never be misled by a headline. After all, due to his previous career, he always asks questions about what he reads and researches to get the right answer.

The past 3ish years being a perfect example.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Public high school. As I recall it included banking and financial, using and maintaining a checking and/or savings account, basics on investment, how to read a paycheck, basics on taxes, making and managing a budget, short vs long term savings goals, credit cards and loans, risk and insurance.

That's the required class for graduation. There is also two 1-semeseter electives available as "Applied Math" that cover some of the same topics, possibly more in-depth on some.

Who needs this when you can learn Trig? I mean, come on, how often do you need to manage money? So glad I learned all about Parabolas in HS instead, really comes in handy. Thank you NYC Board of Ed for being on the ball.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Very interesting. Private school? What do they teach?

Desantis recently passed a law that all high schoolers in public schools in FL have to take a personal finance class in order to graduate. It starts next year. Right now, it's an elective at my son's school.

 

[MrsPete]

Random thoughts:
- At the bottom of all this, we all hope she will recover; however, I've read (fortunately I have no experience) that once you've needed to be placed on a ventilator, you'll likely never be the same again. At 55 she's far from elderly, but she's past her youth.
- Being nosy, I googled her net worth and her house, and I found conflicting information: She has 2 million, she has 8 million, her house is worth 8 million. I did see that her house is 9000 square feet with 6 bedrooms /6 bathrooms ... that's more than anyone needs and is an indication that she's doing well financially. Or spends foolishly. She could be house-poor.
- I saw some discussion online about whether this pneumonia was a side effect of Covid or not. Apparently she's anti-vaxx?
- As for her daughters, they're 20-somethings. They likely have zero experience dealing with hospital bills. Suggesting that they're trying to preserve their inheritance is cold. We don't know a single thing about these girls ... beyond their mother's name.
- Related: I saw an article about Melissa Gilbert and her actor husband recently. Apparently the two of them have almost nothing. It shocked me. I would've thought she was quite wealthy. Makes me suspect it's common for the celebrities who captured our interest a couple decades ago.
- As for Personal Finance in schools, it's been in schools for a long time! For decades it's been a part of Civics, and now it's a separate course. Many kids don't take it seriously because 1) they're all going to be Influencers (which has replaced Rock Star or NFL Player as the dream job) and will earn so much that budgeting won't be necessary or 2) they can't imagine anyone would be stupid enough to go into debt. Knowing how to manage your money doesn't mean you will manage it well ... once it's real and actual wants /emotions are involved.

 

[john7994]

There's a great line in Citizen Kane:

Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money if all you want is to make a lot of money.

One of my favorite movie quotes of all time ...

 

[barkley]

Our high school requires a personal finance course.

i wish ours did-my older kid still resents that younger kid was required as a part of his special ed 'iife skills' curriculum in high school to participate in a full year personal finance course while the non special ed students were required to take 4 years of math of which the track was-

algebra 1
algebra 2
integrated algebra
geometry.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Desantis recently passed a law that all high schoolers in public schools in FL have to take a personal finance class in order to graduate. It starts next year. Right now, it's an elective at my son's school.

Outstanding! Hope other states copy it.

Florida has a large number of immigrant families so the parents are unfamiliar with US banking, if the schools don't teach it to kids who learn themselves and teach their families these people are prey & the housing crisis of 08 is what happens. Now with the massive influx it is even more important to help people understand.

I picked up some in day to day life but growing up poor doesn't really offer a ton of opportunity in the money lessons department, which probably explains how GenX got slammed by predatory credit cards and home equity loans. I did learn a ton in CUNY Accounting and Finance classes though, Economics too, mostly from cautionary tales from Professors. Basic Accounting, Banking and Finance & Economics should really be opened up to all college students as Gen Ed, I mean we all have to deal with money so why make the information exclusive? To the uninitiated it all seems like VooDoo which is why I wanted to learn it so bad, I hated not understanding what I was hearing - turns out a lot of people who talk are full of it but you can't know that unless you speak the language:/ I was horrified that my kids were not permitted access unless they got into the Business School, one went that route and the other didn't - its messed up.

As a society we can't leave money education to the predators, to do so it negligent. Same goes for health, shouldn't be an afterthought of just the basics like brush your teeth or a nursing degree, I suspect programs can find middle ground and do better.

The way this is currently handled totally grinds my gears, you can't have salesmen educating the public & that is what we have right now - inane.

Giving the basics in High School is the very least we should be offering, like literally the very least.

 

[mjkacmom]

i wish ours did-my older kid still resents that younger kid was required as a part of his special ed 'iife skills' curriculum in high school to participate in a full year personal finance course while the non special ed students were required to take 4 years of math of which the track was-

algebra 1
algebra 2
integrated algebra
geometry.

My kids took algebra 2, precalc, AP ab calc, AP bc calc, fortunately not only was financial literacy a requirement, but dad is a CFP, so they’ve been taught from day one (4 were/are business majors so it stuck). My parents were financially smart, but some of my friends’ parents? I had a friend who’s mom always maxed out the orbachs card (dating myself), whenever her mom got a decent amount of money she’d pay off some of it, which meant a trip to the mall.

 

[gmi3804]

My kids took algebra 2, precalc, AP ab calc, AP bc calc, fortunately not only was financial literacy a requirement, but dad is a CFP, so they’ve been taught from day one (4 were/are business majors so it stuck). My parents were financially smart, but some of my friends’ parents? I had a friend who’s mom always maxed out the orbachs card (dating myself), whenever her mom got a decent amount of money she’d pay off some of it, which meant a trip to the mall.

I have a friend who looks at his ATM receipt to see the available balance in his account.

 

[john7994]

I have a friend who looks at his ATM receipt to see the available balance in his account.

Is this a bad thing? I always check the ATM receipt out of habit to ensure what I think is there is actually there - it’s another data point (not my only one) - I am not in my banking app everyday either (while I do have alerts setup) - so is it really that strange?

 

[gmi3804]

Is this a bad thing? I always check the ATM receipt out of habit to ensure what I think is there is actually there - it’s another data point (not my only one) - I am not in my banking app everyday either (while I do have alerts setup) - so is it really that strange?

He doesn't take into account the checks he's already written.