来源：《华盛顿邮报》
原文刊登日期：2022年6月12日
One of the best gifts state and local lawmakers and teachers can give graduating high school students is a solid financial education. Michigan is poised to become the 14th state to mandate a personal finance course before students graduate high school. This should be a requirement around the country. Every student graduating from a public high school should have to take at least one semester of basic personal finance.
州和地方议员和教师能给高中毕业生的最好礼物之一是扎实的理财教育。密歇根州有望成为第14个在学生高中毕业前开设个人理财课程的州。这应该是全美各地的一项要求。每个公立高中毕业的学生都必须至少学习一个学期的基本个人理财课程。
High school graduates will soon face the challenges of finding a job, paying bills and taxes, finding a place to live and navigating credit cards, bank accounts, mortgages, student loans and more. Some teenagers face these burdens even before they graduate because they have to help provide for their families. Managing money is daunting at any age, but it’s especially difficult when one is starting out. Losing even a little money early on to fees, fines or bad investments can be crippling, and a poor credit rating can stick around and hurt a young person for years.
高中毕业生将很快面临找工作、支付账单和税款、找地方住、使用信用卡、银行账户、按揭贷款、学生贷款等问题的挑战。一些青少年甚至在毕业前就面临着这些负担，因为他们必须帮助养家。理财对任何年龄的人来说都是一项艰巨的任务，但当一个人刚开始理财时，这尤其困难。在早期的费用、罚款或糟糕的投资中，即使损失了一点钱，也会造成严重的后果，而且糟糕的信用评级可能会留下影响，并伤害一个年轻人多年。
Fewer than 1 in 4 high school students are required to take a personal finance course before graduation, according to Next Gen Personal Finance, which assesses high school curriculums and advocates for all students to have access to basic money education by 2025. The situation is even worse in many schools that are predominantly non-White and lower-income.
根据“下一代个人理财”的数据，不到四分之一的高中生在毕业前被要求学习个人理财课程。该机构评估高中课程，倡导到2025年所有学生都能接受基本的金钱教育。在许多以非白人和低收入者为主的学校，情况更糟。
Critics of these types of programs argue they are a Band-Aid that hides the deeper problems in the U.S. financial industry where lower-income families and people of color are often preyed upon with high-fee products and, in some cases, face outright discrimination in accessing loans and other basic services. Personal finance classes are not a magic cure. But they should go hand in hand with efforts to reform the banking system to make it fairer for all. Giving young people a basic education in how the financial system works isn’t just about helping them avoid the worst options; it’s about helping them pick the best path.
对这类项目持批评态度的人认为，课程只是权宜之计，掩盖了美国金融业深层次的问题，低收入家庭和有色人种往往被高价产品所坑骗，在某些情况下，他们在获得贷款和其他基本服务方面面临着赤裸裸的歧视。个人理财课程不是灵丹妙药。但它们应该与改革银行体系的努力相辅相成，使其对所有人都更加公平。让年轻人接受金融体系如何运作的基础教育，不仅仅是帮助他们避免最糟糕的选择；而是帮助他们选择最佳路径。
Similarly, those who argue that all students need is a basic understanding of mathematics and compound interest are naive. Being proficient in personal finance today is as much about knowing how to navigate paperwork and legal terms as it is about basic math. Customers have to pick between different bank accounts and fee structures, different loan types and traditional banks vs. non-bank lenders. The recent surge in “buy now, pay later” options at many stores is yet another reminder of how quickly old ideas can be repackaged for the digital age and catch consumers off-guard.
同样，那些认为学生所需要的只是对数学和复利的基本理解的人也很天真。如今，精通个人理财不仅需要掌握基本的数学知识，还需要懂得如何处理文书工作和法律术语。客户必须在不同的银行账户和费用结构、不同的贷款类型以及传统银行和非银行贷款机构之间进行选择。最近，“先买后付”的选项在许多商店激增，这再次提醒人们，在数字时代，旧的想法可以多么迅速地重新包装，让消费者措手不及。
The fact that Michigan’s bill passed overwhelmingly highlights how this is a rare bipartisan issue. Personal finance should be as core to a high school education as Shakespeare and algebra.
密歇根州的法案获得压倒性通过，凸显出这是一个罕见的两党议题。个人理财应该像莎士比亚和代数一样成为高中教育的核心。