They don't know what they don't know.
That is how the presenter at a recent financial planning seminar that I attended responded to the question of why more Americans do not follow the particular wealth-creating strategies that he advocates. If this can be said about the average investor, it certainly can be said about the overwhelming majority of students at ASU.
First, it should be noted that nearly every American is an investor of some sort. Whether it is buying a house, investing in your employer's 401(k), or planning for retirement, most Americans do some sort of investing.
This is the opposite from the common notion of investors from decades ago, when significant investing activities (if you don't count paying Social Security taxes) were only for the elite, affluent "investing class."
With this redefinition of the investing class, ASU should do its students a favor and require that they take an investment class.
In the past week, Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., spoke on campus and in other venues in the Tempe area, on the rising costs of higher education and the financial pinch that this puts on students.
Paying for college, clearly, is a complicated and important issue. But so is understanding how to invest in a tax-favorable manner. While we're at it, learning about how to build up the finances to eventually send our children to college is probably a good idea, too.
The issues of rising tuition, less federal grants and loans for students, and increased student debt are all the more reasons for ASU students to gain a valuable foundation of knowledge in how to manage their personal finances and how to establish good investment habits.
One of the main reasons for rising student debt is that they cannot rely upon any sort of college fund to help them survive the financial hardships of attending college.
We can stop this. With healthy investing strategies and good saving habits, there is no reason that most ASU students should not be able to retire and send their children to college.
ASU, as an institution dedicated to cultivating those skills necessary for a successful career, ought to require all undergraduate students to complete, at the very least, some basic coursework on personal finances.
Sure, there are the business students. But a lot of these students, trained in the aspects of macroeconomic policy or mutual fund management, do not necessarily have a solid grasp on how to properly manage their personal finances, judging from what admittedly is only anecdotal evidence. And to those students, whether in the W. P. Carey School, who have taken the time to learn about personal financial planning, kudos to you. These students, probably more than any others, would be quick to point out how helpful this information is.
As I approach the so-called real world, I'm amazed at how little my college education has done to prepare me with the substantive tools to effectively manage my finances. Sure, it doesn't make much sense for a philosophy student to know much about investments, but maybe that it the problem. After all, philosophy students need to maximize the value of every penny they get, as they are not likely to make much more than pennies.
ASU has all sorts of university requirements for graduation. There is the math requirement, and the cultural awareness requirement and all of those other requirements with which ASU students have to deal.
Yet what requirement could be more important than one that would force all ASU undergraduates to take a worthwhile, and hopefully rather difficult, course on how to properly handle their personal finances?
All ASU students are likely to become investors of some sort. The University should make us do our homework.
Macy Hanson is a philosophy and political science senior. Contact him at:
