S.C. bill would require HS students to take a personal financial class

South Carolina State Senator Luke Rankin has filed a bill that would require high school students to take a personal finance class. The proposed one-half credit course would cover a variety of topics, from budgeting, banking, taxes, to avoiding debt problems.

Finances can be overwhelming for many teenagers and currently there are no statewide financial course requirements. However, there are many steps parents and students can take in the interim to become financially sound.

Family Fortune Financial Managing Partner Erik Flegal believes students need to focus on three things: budgeting, understanding debt and the power of compounding.

“People have talked about things like credit cards on college campuses being predatory for as long as I can remember,” he said. “It’s an issue because students don’t understand borrowing, interest rates, and total expense. Twenty-one percent interest rates are hard to live with and pay off.”

Stephanie W. Mackara, president of Charleston Investment Advisors, strongly supports Rankin’s bill. She said, “I believe we should take every opportunity to give our children the tools to live financially well. We must financially socialize our children at home, in the community and at school.”

Mackara recommends teaching children to calculate a tip at a restaurant, evaluate a bank statement and create a budget. She added, “Children are extraordinary learners from a young age. They master concepts, language, walking, negotiating, and more in just their first few years. Yet we typically don’t engage our children in learning about financial matters until much later in life…This is a mistake and we must make a change.”

Gregg Murset, CEO of BusyKid, suggests parents talk to their children about their own financial successes and failures to teach them to be financially independent.

“This means having them earn money (allowance) through chores and letting them begin to make decisions on how to save and spend it,” said Murset. “Starting them young will give them plenty of time to build a solid routine of saving, spending and investing wisely.”

Daniel Island resident Sally Niemer agrees teaching young people financial responsibility is important, but feels parents need to take the lead. She emphasizes teaching children how to budget their own money.

“Teach the value of a dollar through labor,” Niemer said. “When we give kids money or allowance it’s ‘free’ money and it doesn’t have the same value as when it’s earned.”

Niemer’s son, Dugger, a freshman at Bishop England High School, learned to be financially responsible at an early age. The 13-year-old entrepreneur never received an allowance and earns money doing odd jobs for neighbors and working part time at Chick-fil-A. Although he doesn’t need the proposed class, he said, “It could be helpful for some people who need to learn to be wise with their money.”

If the bill passes, the legislation would begin with the 2020-2021 school year. The State Department of Education will need to develop the curriculum by July 1, 2020.