Having a solid understanding of financial basics is crucial to your child’s success in life, and yet few states require students to take a course in personal finance before graduation. Florida just signed Senate Bill 1054 “Financial Literacy Instruction in Public Schools” into law on March 22, which applies to students who enter ninth grade in the 2023-2024 school year or later.
This is great news for Florida students, but financial literacy is important for all people, and a key reason that every April for the past 19 years, financial institutions, nonprofits and human service agencies increase their focus on the importance of financial literacy through events, programs and counseling.
Why financial literacy is important
In the current financial climate, with inflation at record highs, it’s imperative that everyone takes the time to learn how our financial system works as well as effective ways to manage their money to reach their financial goals.
Parents rank teaching financial literacy to their children as a top priority, but it’s rarely taught in schools. Money management is the number one reason that married people argue and without proper knowledge, young people can quickly find themselves in debt or with bad credit that can negatively impact their lives.
What financial literacy entails
The new Florida law requires that the state financial literacy class must cover the following topics.
- Types of bank accounts offered, opening and managing a bank account and assessing the quality of a depository institution’s services.
- Balancing a checkbook.
- Basic principles of money management, such as spending, credit, credit scores and managing debt, including retail and credit card debt.
- Completing a loan application.
- Receiving an inheritance and related implications.
- Basic principles of personal insurance policies.
- Computing federal income taxes.
- Local tax assessments.
- Computing interest rates by various mechanisms.
- Simple contracts.
- Contesting an incorrect billing statement.
- Types of savings and investments.
- State and federal laws concerning finance.
Valley can help
During the pandemic, Valley collaborated with Working in Support of Education (W!se) to pilot their first virtual Financial Literacy program for the High School of Economics and Finance and we continue to be committed to educating people of all ages about finance.
At Valley, we can provide your young adult child with services like their first checking account, a college rewards credit card and even help them buy their first home. Visit Valley.com to learn more or contact us.
