*Corporate* Finance Majors

Can we talk about one of the most underserved areas of everyone’s educational journey?  Personal finance – a theme which was partly woven within my earlier Gamestop post.  Most of you probably heard the complaint that our education system lacking a high school course that teaches you the basics of money management such as savings, interest (which to be clear is no longer a factor on the savings side of personal finance), budgeting, debit cards, credit cards, etc.  So really just making sure you understand the value of money, why it’s important to live within your means, and why it’s a bad idea to rack up a bunch of credit card debt.  This is all good.  All things each of us would benefit from at an early age.  But at some point, we graduate in our personal finance aptitude and need to dig a bit deeper.  At some point we all entered the workforce, whether that was immediately after high school or after university and we started hearing things like pension, 401k, IRA, stocks, mutual funds, ETFs.  All of these things like savings, interest, budgeting, debit cards, and credit cards affect each of us.  But most people really don’t understand how they work and how to take advantage of them to build wealth.

As a Finance major I thought back to undergrad and the classes that developed my understanding of personal finance.  I couldn’t think of one.  I couldn’t think of one because I didn’t take any personal finance classes.  All courses were dedicated toward corporate finance, corporate accounting, corporate income tax, etc.  Potentially because I doubled majored in Accounting, I just didn’t have enough room in my schedule for electives dedicated to personal finance.  So, I phoned a fellow (sole) finance major and asked how many personal finance courses he took undergrad and he quickly responded, “zero.”  If “finance” majors aren’t getting into the weeds of personal finance, then who is?  Maybe all the Ivy Leaguers had more of an opportunity for personal finance courses, but the point it is, no one really educates you on the key steps to building wealth and tools that will help you along this journey. 

The wealth gap in the US (and elsewhere) is real and growing.  There are MANY factors that go into this, I get it.  But one small step to securing a more stable financial foundation and future for everyone is education on the basics.  This is why I love the personal finance apps we discussed earlier.  They get people in the game and building wealth.