In my experience, high schools don’t teach money management. They teach study skills.

Good grades can carry us to a certain point, and they are still important in evaluating a student. But unlike in the Industrial Age, they no longer guarantee success. With the recent economic downturn, they no longer even ensure a job.

So what I’m wondering is why I rarely see an economics course offered in high school or even a basic money management course. Shouldn’t financial education be a part of our overall learning as young adults about to enter the world?

I realize that "finance" isn’t exactly a term that sparks a lot of interest among high school students since it really doesn't matter to us in the short term. We're much too busying stressing about ever imminent SATs or college applications, right? Wrong.

The fact that leaving high school with a more in-depth understanding of our banking system, taxes, or even just debt can serve us well for the rest of our lives has not been stressed enough.

Uni fortunately requires that students complete an online consumer education course before graduation that briefly covers issues such as insurance or taxes. However, for most of us this requirement also lies in the back of the dusty recesses of our minds until the last minute.

Obviously, not all of us are going to study finance in college. Why not learn it in high school before we go out into the world where we can get ourselves into all sorts of financial trouble?

Being financially literate isn’t limited to business majors, financial consultants, or Wall Street high flyers. It is useful to anyone who has an income. I don’t think it’s enough to just know how to save anymore. A solid financial education will provide us with options about how to put our earned income in something other than a bank.

I’m not saying that everyone should become a financial whiz. But why not invest in mastering basic fund management early on so we don’t have to rip our hair out when we’re older?