Get Rich Quick

Okay, perhaps the title of this post is a little misleading. Each and every one of us has heard of at least one 'get rich quick' scheme at one point or another. Some are even making national headlines (such as the recent Madoff Ponzi scheme). It's the epitome of the American Dream; to go to bed poor with a hope and a prayer and wake up in the morning a bona fide millionaire. It's not that it never happens; many individuals have actually experienced this phenomena at one point or another.

The problem is that it's immensely improbable to the everyday American, and what's worse, some people will actually waste their lives away waiting for sudden wealth to fall into their lap, rather than build it steadily over time. Two prime examples of this: family inheritence, and life insurance.

Aside from this, the majority of individuals who do suddenly find themselves with a sizable amount of money also tend to spend a sizable amount of money. How many famous movie stars, music singers, lottery winners, and professional athletes have we heard of going bankrupt and losing their McMansions to the foreclosure courts? It's not that these individuals aren't brilliant at what they do (yes, even the scratchoff player); just that they had never been taught anything on the subject of money-management during their entire academic careers.

It's absolutely outrageous that we live in an age where high schools mandate Health, Parenting, and Physical Education classes, but not Personal Finance. 60% of the population is considered overweight, true, but as of 2004, 74.9 percent of U.S. families had credit cards, and 58 percent of those families carried a balance. (Source: Federal Reserve Bulletin, February 2006). If there is ever a time when something has been proven to be of vital importance to everyday America, it's Personal Finance education.

The reason I care so much is because I was uninformed as a young adult. My parents had, at best, hunches and clues as to how the financial system worked in this country after a lifetime of living in it. The only way I learned was by being thrown headfirst into a bookkeeping position of a retail business where I suddenly needed to learn to read credit card statements, bank statements, invoices, balance sheets, and income statements in order to do my job. At age 18 I was clueless, but by the time I turned 19 I was an expert relative to my peers.

It's something I care deeply about, and something I hope you will too. That way, in the event you do suddenly wake up and find yourself rich, you'll not only be able to handle your newfound wealth, but will be able to have it take care of you and your loved ones for the rest of your days.