Schools Should Teach Reading, Writing, Personal Finance

A new survey finds almost universal agreement on one important topic: Besides reading, writing and arithmetic, schools should be teaching kids about money. Some 87% of respondents in a new survey from RBC Wealth Management-U.S. and City National Bank said schools ought to be teaching students about money management.

"Of these respondents, 15% believe that it should be included [in class curriculum] as early as elementary school and the rest believe it should be more of a middle school and high school topic," said Brooke McGeehan, U.S. vice president at RBC Wealth Management. "Personally, I think there's no downside in starting as early as possible."

Most states don't require students to take a personal finance class upon high school graduation. Amid the lack of financial education in schools, parents seemed to have filled in the gap. Some 83% of parents with kids ages 16-22 said their efforts to educate kids about financial matters were "decent."

http://www.thestreet.com/story/13531836/1/schools-should-teach-reading-writing-personal-finance.html