There is no course, that I know of, taught in our nation's schools on how to be financially successful in life.
Our children, the country's future generation, are not being educated on matters of finance and money.
Instead our schools are teaching our children to study hard, get good grades, get a college degree, get a job, work hard, buy a home and mortgage.
And they do just as they are taught.
Once in the rat race they struggle even to save a little bit of money due primarily to high taxes and the high cost of living.
The only safety net historically available to most individuals has been the equity in their homes, which they use to pay for college, buy cars and/or use for a variety of other purposes.
In other words, they are taught to be good employees and join the rat race.
No one is teaching our children what they need to be taught: how to be a good employer and avoid the rat race.
No one is teaching our children how to properly manage the money they earn.
We are bringing up a nation of debtors and poor people who are taught to eek out a living; just getting by in life.
It's even worse than that, however.
Our children are taught that it is wrong and bad to be rich, or seek wealth.
You think I'm wrong? Just ask your child if they have ever read Robin Hood in school.
Most likely the answer will be in the affirmative.
Then ask them if Robin Hood is a good guy or a bad guy.
Most likely your younger children will respond honestly and tell you that he is a good guy; a hero.
The fact that Robin Hood was a thief who stole someone's hard-earned money is irrelevant.
He took from the rich and gave to the poor.
That, our children are taught, is o.
k.
because poor people are good and rich people are bad and poor people are thus "entitled" to that rich person's money and wealth.
What are they really teaching our kids when they hold up someone like Robin Hood as a model, a hero? They are teaching our children that the American Dream is wrong.
They are teaching our children that striving to become wealthy in America is bad.
Finally, they are teaching our children that those who do become wealthy, who achieve the American Dream, should be punished by taking away their wealth.
This indoctrination is spreading.
Just pick up any newspaper on any given day and you will find an article discussing the need to change the tax laws so the rich pay more taxes.
The federal and state governments have become Robin Hood and boy are they glad the schools are spreading this message to their students.
It makes their job much easier when the general population agrees that it is right to punish the wealthy by imposing higher taxes on them.
What they should be taught, instead, is that there are bad people out there, like Robin Hood and the government, who are trying to punish them for being successful.
What they should be taught is that they should strive to achieve the American Dream.
They need to be taught just what the American Dream is and what it means to the health of this country of ours.
So what is the American Dream? It is the opportunity for every American family to pursue and achieve wealth in one or two generations and to keep most of that wealth to themselves.
It is the idea that individual efforts to seek wealth in this great country of ours should be encouraged and rewarded.
In America, Robin Hood is a thief who should be punished and jailed for life.
We need to teach our children that the rich are the heros.
Their success should be a shining beacon on the hill for all to see.
Instead of punishing the rich through excessive taxes, they should be rewarded with lower taxes.
Our schools and our government have it all backwards.
They are teaching our children principles that are contrary to the ideas that helped shape the founding of this nation.
What five things should schools be teaching our children? #1 The American Dream and our Founding Principles.
#2 Financial Literacy - Accounting, Marketing, Money Management, Paying Themselves First (Saving 10% of All Income Earned).
#3 Relationship Management /Networking Skills.
#4 Goal-Setting.
#5 Time Management/Task Management.
Our children are ill-equipped to deal with the realities of life, particularly in the area of money and finance.
We are bringing up a generation of financially illiterate individuals.
Lacking financial intelligence keeps them one skill away from great wealth.
It's not enough to study hard, get a college degree, find a job, work hard and buy a home with a mortgage.
It's not enough to teach our children how to join the rat race.
All we'll end up with is a lot of rats.