You never know what you don’t know, you know?

I had the chance to speak to a large group of young people (mostly in their 20s) last weekend about my books, my investing ideas and money in general.

I was impressed by their intelligence and curiosity about what I was talking about. They were engaged and motivated to learn more and try some the ideas. However, a theme kept re-appearing during the conversations. I believe this is the key problem that authors like myself and others are trying to address.

They lacked basic financial education

Their perceptions and assumptions about money, financial management, and investing were very incomplete, outdated, and/or just completely wrong. It concerned me that no one had ever taught them how money works. They assumed this was the realm of “experts” . People who want to learn about money need to get fancy degrees or certifications, or aspire to be bankers or accountants. They only knew that they should “get an education” and then “get a good job”. At best, they considered “investing” as stock market “day trading” or some other exotic pursuit.

They are very Interested

The more I engaged with them, the more it became clear that they actually would LOVE to know more about financial planning, investing and money management. They just didn’t realize that they didn’t know. They didn’t even know there were other ways to approach wealth creation and life planning. They were never taught about how money works, or how the game of money is played.

The Game is Rigged

As I rant about often, they were born into a world that is entirely built upon a capitalist system that has specific rules and outcomes. They are basically forced to participate in a world that uses value for value based transactions for every single thing that exists. Yet, they are never given the tools or information to play the game properly. This is a travesty!

Financial Education should be taught in school

If we REALLY wanted to give our kids the best chance to succeed in the world, we would ensure that they are given a proper financial education before they embark on their life’s journey as adults. The problem is, even their parents don’t know what they are talking about, for the most part. Financial education is available these days in abundance via books, seminars, courses, and even YouTube videos but the problem is not availability, it is lack of “Need to know”.

Leave it to the “Experts”

Most people, when they finally figure out they need to start taking care of their futures, rely on “experts” to manage their money for them. They turn over control to insurance companies or banks to invest their hard earned money for them in the form of mutual finds and RRSPs. Although these are far better investments than doing nothing, I believe we owe it to our young people to give them alternatives to traditional investing. They need to know what options are available and THEN make the appropriate decisions for their individual life. Everyone has to make the investment choices that make sense in the context of their own circumstances and I believe that there are far too few choices available in the mainstream.

Be the Master of your OWN Financial Destiny

By educating yourself, and proactively seeking out ideas, methods and systems about investing, money and finance, you are enabling yourself to make better choices with your money. You are learning about the value of your time. You are evaluating investment opportunities with a clearer mind, and a more critical eye. You are putting your own financial life in the proper context and playing the game of money with a few more cards up your sleeve.

Change the World

Until such time as we can convince the education system to include financial literacy as part of tier curriculum and/or find a better system than unbridled capitalism, our best strategy for thriving in the current world is to learn as much as we can about how it all works. Then pass it on..

The first step is to realize that we don’t know.

The second step is to seek out as much information about money and finance as we can.

The third is to apply what you have learned.

The fourth is to enjoy the ride! <— this is how we win the game, after all!

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