I graduated from high school in 1992 @ age 17.
(I skipped second grade for those doing the math)
During my school years I remember thinking, as many students before and after me, “When am I ever going to use Algebra?” Math wasn’t the only subject of which I asked this question. History and Astronomy were scrutinized as well.
I’ll be 39 on January 24th, 2014 and have I used Algebra, …at all….ever?! Absolutely not!
I have no animosity towards my former teachers and I do realize some of my fellow students have entered professions where my least enjoyed subjects have benefited them greatly. Some have reason to use Algebra every day.
(I’ll weep and pray for them later)
However, I’ve noticed that most of us don’t have the slightest need to use so much of the knowledge we’ve accumulated from Jr. High forward, yet vital education we now need in our adult lives was overlooked.
Ask the average teenager if they know how to balance a checkbook and they’ll propably ask, “What’s a checkbook?” If the average adult was asked, “Are you happy with your last month’s Balance Sheet?” they’d probably respond by telling you they don’t own a business. They don’t understand how important a balance sheet is for the financial success of the average person, couple and family.
In our great America we have been taught-falsely- that school is where all of life’s important skills and knowledge are attained.
Really?
If this is true why are so many families buried under debt, close to losing their houses and still living paycheck to paycheck? The answer is: They were not properly educated in Money Management.
I learned recently that Jewish parents start teaching thier children about money when the child starts asking, “Daddy could you buy me a…..?” Jewish children as young as eight years old learn to use their allowance wisely. They give the first ten percent to Church, save the next ten percent and even learn to invest another ten percent. Yes, at such a young age they undersand and practice investing. Have you ever notices how financially secure Jewish folks are in America?
It was interesting to learn that jewish grade-schoolers who are asked by non-Jewish children to let them borrow a few dollars respond with, “I’ll let you borrow two dollars for the weekend but you have to give me three dollars on monday.” To the American-bred child this makes sense because he’s seen his parents borrow money all the time. It’s a way of life, totally normal.
Proverbs 22:6 & 7 comes to mind:
Train up a child in the way he should go;even when he is old he will not depart from it. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
The proof of these verses is all around us. Remember the American kid who borrowed two dollars and repaid three? He grew up to be the average American worker; in debt and struggling to get by. The Jewish kid who loaned two and collected three grew up to be the average Jew with no debt owning three businesses and passing on that legacy to his children.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverbs 213:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.
The time has come for us to educate our children about how money works, what money really is and how to use it to attain real Financial Freedom!
Is Algerba useful? Yes, IF your profession requires its use. Is Money Management useful? Yes, BECAUSE your Financial Success demands it!
Bright Balance Ministries 