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High school grads are not getting the personal finance education they need

Adults say they would have made far fewer mistakes with money if they had finance education in high school.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — According to a 2023 Ramsey survey, 88 percent of U.S. adults said high school did not leave them "fully-prepared" for how to handle money in the real world. The report was compiled by Ramsey Solutions, a company created by financial talk show host Dave Ramsey.

Local bankers explained to 3NEWS how they help students in the Corpus Christi Independent School District prepare themselves when handling their money.

Frost Bank Vice President Cindy Barrera teaches investment in the Frost Financial Youth Academy offered in CCISD.

"I experienced that myself," Barrera said. "It's not really a topic that was discussed in our household. So we found that really kids were very enlightened and they're so excited to learn." 

She said the bank got involved to make a scary subject, not so scary.  

"It's all so new to them," Barrera said. "But really the overwhelming feeling of it's way easier than they thought."

Eight-in-ten adults say they would have had a better start with money if they learned about personal finance in high school.

Three-in-four adults say they often or sometimes felt stress because of money.

Ramsey radio show co-host George Kamel says high school grads think of credit as free money and don't realize how it can cripple their lives as they approach having their own home and families.

"And so you get the car loan and the mortgage payment," Kamel said. "And all of a sudden you look around and you're drowning in payments early into adulthood wondering is this it? Is this the piece and dream I was promised?"  

There are 26 states in the U.S. that require personal finance education before a student can graduate high school. Texas is not one of them yet.

However, the study also says that more of today's young people are starting to take personal finance courses.

To see the full report, click here.

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