Personal Finance: How to Be Self-Sufficient
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels.
Nevaeh Hughes
Personal finance is managing your money as well as saving and investing; it encompasses budgeting, banking, insurance, mortgages, investments, retirement, tax, and estate planning. Here at Hamilton, the class is offered to all grade levels and is over the course of one semester. It covers a wide range of topics and each unit flows into the next to give students real-life experiences. Within the class you’ll learn how to compare job offers, how paychecks are calculated, retirement, how to budget, student loans, auto loans, home ownership and renting, health insurance, and more!
So why should students ‘take up space’ in the schedule for Personal Finance? Today, some high school students take APs to boost their GPA, and with that, their class rank; others take classes that seem engaging and fun, leaving little to no space in their schedules for other classes offering life skills. This becomes a major regret in students' lives seeing as they’re about to live the ‘real world’ with minimal knowledge regarding how their finances work. Having taken Personal Finance myself during my freshman year, I know how valuable the class is. I personally take jabs at my friends, saying that they’ll be able to perfectly execute the Pythagorean Theorem at any given moment, but they probably can’t fill out a W4 form.
Here’s what Mrs. Fields, one of Hamilton’s Personal Finance teachers, had to say:
““This is a class where I can promise you that you will use EVERYTHING you learn. Every unit is tailored around you and your interests to give you a personalized experience of what life could look like in a few years. I know it may seem really early to start thinking about buying a house or retiring now, but by thinking about those decisions now and learning what it takes to achieve those goals, you get an edge as you head into your adult life. Whenever I tell other adults about this class and what we cover, their reaction is, ‘I wish I would have had that in high school.’ So, listen to your elders and believe us when we tell you that this class is SO IMPORTANT, and you’ll be so grateful you took it in 10 years.””
I am now a senior, and a lot closer to really applying all of the knowledge I learned in Personal Finance as I move toward becoming an adult. In fact, I loved the class and content so much that I’m now a teacher’s assistant (TA) for Mr. Oeschsner’s Personal Finance class. Oeschsner echoes Fields in showcasing the importance of this class to all students:
““All of the course content is important because it can impact your life in so many ways. Personally, I enjoy teaching students about health and auto insurance because it is a topic that can be confusing...even for many adults. Because medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States, I think it is a topic that all students should have a basic understanding of.””
This has definitely been one of my favorite classes to take here at Hamilton. I can vividly remember a project called A Day in the Life where we built a budget and then simulated what expenses would be like based on the lifestyle and habits you currently have. Not only was it super engaging, but it was also realistic and wasn’t confusing to follow. This class also offers a lot of competitive opportunities, whether it's through building wealth in a simulated stock market or interactive simulations. Below are some tips that are integrated into the practical advice this class gives:
Mrs. Fields’ Three Most Vital Tips
Create a budget! Actually spend time to create a plan of where your money is going to go. This makes financial decisions so much easier and takes away a lot of stress. Budgeting is truly the foundation for any positive financial future.
Live within your means! Never feel intimidated by what those around you have—you have NO idea what kind of debt they are carrying to get those items.
Never pay interest on credit cards or loans—except the big three (home, auto, and student).
Every student should find the time to take this class before they graduate—whether it’s first semester freshman year or second semester senior year. It has many real-world applications and offers useful tools to help build good saving/spending practices.
