Introduction
If there is one skill that students need to possess, possibly more than any other skill in the world, it is financial literacy. This is something that ensures that they learn to manage money and finances in the best possible way, thereby securing their future.
The importance of financial literacy to students is immense. This is as true of schools in Manila, as it is of elementary schools in Pasig.
What is Financial Literacy?
Financial literacy to students has to do with their possessing the ability to use their money in a manner that their financial situation becomes healthy and stable. It lets them not only appreciate the importance of money but also allows them to budget their expenses and gather an understanding of the formal banking and finance system.
Why Does Financial Literacy Become Important for Students?
Financial literacy is important for students, on account of the fact that it instils in them the life skills necessary for achieving near-term and long-term financial security. It allows them to make well-thought-out financial choices, thereby securing their future in terms of their ability to navigate the complex world of finance in the best possible manner.
Let us look at this in some detail here.
1. Building a Strong Foundation
The sooner one becomes financially literate, the better it is for that person. A good financial standing is the most important factor in ensuring peace, prosperity and progress in life. Unfortunately, quite a few people never understand its importance till very late in life.
If students are taught to be on top of their financial situation right from the beginning they are likely to make optimal decisions throughout their lives, putting them at a distinct advantage over those who are not financially literate in their lives.
2. Enhancing Career Readiness
Financially literate students have a much better idea about their career prospects in terms of their earning ability and the type of jobs that will help them achieve that. They are able to make better decisions with regard to both their education and career trajectory. Students learn about asset building and wealth creation from a very early age. This can only augur well for their bright and stable future.
3. Students Can Manage their Loans
Student or education loans are something that most young people have to contend with. Financially literate students are better placed to manage such loans and not get trapped in long-term student loan debt. This is a huge advantage in the kind of times that we live in.
4. Instilling Financial Responsibility
Making students financially literate is the best way to instil financial responsibility in them. If they are able to realise the implications of their financial actions, they will be able to make the right kind of decisions regarding money matters. This puts them at an immense advantage with regard to planning their future.
5. Helps Them Understand Credit
Financial literacy helps students have a good idea of what credit is. This knowledge lasts them in good stead throughout their life. From managing student loans to house mortgages and business investments, this is a wonderful skill to possess.
6. Promoting Financial Independence
Financial literacy is the path to financial independence. Financial literacy denotes a thorough knowledge of financial systems and managing money. If one has that kind of a hold on the intricacies of the way money functions, one will always be able to make the right financial decisions, thereby becoming financially independent.
7. Provides Skills for the Workforce
If you are financially literate you are able to leverage those skills in a work environment, thereby enhancing your employability. Getting students to become financially literate is, therefore, useful in more ways than one.
8. Developing Entrepreneurial Skills
Possessing financial skills is a huge asset to possess in the sense that students with an entrepreneurial streak can leverage these to find success in their chosen endeavours. The fact that they can start developing such skills at an early age means that they can start their academic journey that much faster.
9. Contributing to the Economy and Society
Financially literate people generally do well in life and are able to substantially contribute to the economy and society. It is, therefore, important that all students be put on that path from an early age so that when their time comes, they too can contribute to the economy and society.
10. Fostering Economic Citizenship
Financially literate people are able to manoeuvre across the global financial landscape with ease. This allows them to claim economic citizenship in the sense that they become masters of their own economic destiny. Young students in control of their destinies due to their financial literacy skills will always command respect when they go out into the world to carve their destinies.
Conclusion
The importance of financial literacy for students cannot be emphasised enough as discussed in this article. It is not for nothing that there is so much stress given in schools across Manilla and elsewhere on imparting such skills to students.