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People want basic economics and financial knowledge taught in high schools and colleges, required classes. How simple information, available if anyone wants to know it, should be required learning in school surprised me until I remembered from my teaching days that many students learn nothing at home. Therefore, finances 101 is presented without an school having to provide a teacher for a semester or year.
Balancing a check book is the first lesson. Anyone with a checking account should keep a record not only of every check written, but also each amount spent through a debit card. The information needed to be kept includes the date, check number if applicable, amount spent, and person or business assigned the funds. Next, when a bank statement arrives, the check account owner should check for any checks or debits not listed on the statement, and add the amounts. When the outstanding (not listed items) total is subtracted from the balance shown on the statement, the remainder should be the actual amount left for the person to use. If someone writes checks for more than is available in the bank, or overuses a debit card, overdraft charges can mount quickly. Some banks charge as much as $50 dollars each day an account is overdrawn or as much as $150 per returned check. Carefully balancing one's bank statement each month will help avoid insufficient funds costs (and returned checks will also have charges added by the person/business who receives a check back) or overdraft fees. A person can even face legal charges when checks aren't covered. Credit card blues face many young people. Credit card companies often send offers to people, including college students, offers that sound good on the surface. What many people, young and old, don't realize that going in debt is easier than getting out of debt, especially with credit cards. If someone pays only the minimum payment each month on a card, the total amount due doesn't decline. Rather the balance due increases. Before he/she realizes it, the debt is greater than what can be paid without cutting off all expenditures, even for necessities. Many people face bankruptcy because they become slaves to credit cards. The main lesson to be learned is for everyone to keep track of finances whether through a bank account or credit cards. Sometimes we need to save for and wait for what we want. Doing so is easier than trying to rebuild damaged credit. Vivian Gilbert Zabel, a member of http://www.writing.com, taught over 25 years before retiring to write full-time. Her books Hidden Lies and Other Stories, Walking the Earth, The Base Stealers Club, and Case of the Missing Coach are found on Amazon.com This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.StockBee.Com/ which is a free online stock ticker quiz. |
