Dave Ramesy once said, “credit cards are bad, pay everything in cash, don’t live above your means.” But for many students, they don’t really know why those things are so important.

According to MarketWatch.com, in twenty-three states and the District of Columbia, less than 5% of students during the 2018-2019 school year were required to take a stand-alone personal-finance semester. America is one of the top nations where adults don’t know how to save or spend their money wisely.

Personal Finance is only a requirement in 21 out of 50, and many wonder why America is so bad with their finances. Personal Finance is not just a class; it’s a class that teaches life skills needed to be successful in your adult years. Many adults even have a hard time being able to fill out their taxes and how stocks even work.

Some even say Personal Finance is a correlation of Economics in High School, but Personal Finance digs deeper into the basic aspects of money management. Indiana has talked about making Personal Finance a requirement, but feels it’s not as important as other classes. Many argue that, saying they would have been better off in life if they actually made the class required, forcing them to know basic money knowledge.

Logansport High School does have a personal finance class, although it’s considered an elective class.

“Personal Finance is a very important course that provides teens with information that they will use in their everyday life. If they are learning this information at home, that is great, but if not, who is going to teach them these things? It is important for everyone to know about budgeting, saving, avoiding debt, credit, financial planning and insurance. Hopefully, students will learn how to make smart financial decisions at the beginning of their adult life instead of making huge money mistakes that can have long-term consequences,” Cynthia Frye said.

Frye teaches personal finance in the CCC and also teaches accounting. Many students have no desire in this class, but to many others it’s very important to further help them know what is right and wrong for their money.

If one desires a class that will further benefit their financial state, personal finance would be the better route for them. Indiana will hopefully be on the bandwagon of joining the other twenty-one states in this required class. If not, benefit yourself by taking these elective classes, in the long run your money will thank you.