Response to Darren Hardy's SUCCESS Blog

Jim Rohn’s Challenge to Succeed along with Darren’s Living Your Best Year Ever are cutting edge tools for all ages. Their messages of accountability and discipline are essential inputs for planning and achieving one’s goals. As an educator and a parent, I champion these ideas and principles and am delighted to see SUCCESS magazine in the mainstream!

Many college students do not have financial independence as a goal and a college education may not pay back for quite a long time (especially with student loans). As Jim Rohn says “If they’d offered Wealth 1 and Wealth 2, I would have taken both classes”. Math provides the foundation for processing and understanding personal finance and economic terms to increase savviness and savings while reducing debt.

Math teachers often hear “When I am ever going to use this Math?” which is not really a question but a complaint posed as a question. I have prepared my response with an acronym — MATH teaches Mental Fitness, Accountability, Teamwork and Horizon. And these principles learned in Math class (or on the baseball field or at church or on a job) are life skills that can be applied to the entire Wheel of Life.

http://darrenhardy.success.com/2011/05/helping-grads/

If you can't divide 300 by 2, should you qualify for a loan?

Weak Math Skills Linked to Default -- borrowers with poor Math skills were three times more likely to go into foreclosure.

This article starts off "If you can't divide 300 by 2, should you qualify for a loan?"
The survey led by a Columbia University prof, Stephan Meier, had five questions -- only two were in the article -- the one listed above and "How much is 10% of 1000?"
16% of the respondents got one of these 2 questions incorrect.

Financial education is heavily based on Math education and personal finance is an excellent application of understanding numbers and how they affect life.  In addition, practicing problem-solving can build the mental skills and perseverance that can help people to read the fine print on a mortgage.

Personal Finance Classes in High School

This is such a needed app for Math and Life!!

Economics is also terrific but can be theoretical rather than practical.

Math provides the foundation for processing and understanding personal finance and economic terms to increase savviness and savings while reducing debt.