The other day I heard an NBA coach actually complain thatit was unfair that his team was forced to play back-to-back games in differentcities on successive weeks.
Imagine the cruel and inhuman punishment inflicted onthese 20-and-30-year old mega-millionaires, forced to fly from, say, Denver toOrlando, while earning more money in the span of a 48-minute contest than 98percent of the country does in an entire year.
But again, I'll freely admit to some measure ofschadenfreude, when I read that many of these spoiled athletes are forced toliquidate or file for bankruptcy, like one player who managed in the span of abit over one year to lose a yacht and two homes. Or take another athlete whosecell phone charges alone exceeded $100,000 per month. No, that's not amisprint.
Either they have the most incompetent investment plannersand accountants imaginable, or their understanding of money management isroughly equivalent to my knowledge of quantum physics.
If only they had a financial literacy program. Whichbrings me to today's topic.
For those of you familiar with my opinions (some havedescribed them as "rants"), you know I have not been a booster of thecurrent administration. But rather than get long-winded again about theirpolicies and proposals, I will give credit where it's due.
Last week, the administration unveiled a plan to promotefinancial literacy in the nation's schools, which will begin with a NationalFinancial Capability Challenge, an award program that aims to encouragefinancial education in schools across the country and recognize high-performingteachers, students and schools.
The program comes on the heels of a study conducted byFINRA, which revealed to no one's surprise, that young adults have a lowerfinancial literacy quotient than older generations.
As the father of two teenagers, I have precious fewreasons to doubt the validity of the poll.
Both the Treasury and Education Departments will team inthe initiative that aims to build resources to support the program'simplementation and expand its reach, with a focus on what it termed asunderserved communities.
To be sure, it's an important start, but many of thestate CPA societies were far ahead of the curve on this issue with myriadfinancial literacy programs and workshops as well as the American Institute ofCPAs' 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy.
Ensuring that students graduate from high school with aclearer understanding of basic finance as well as the risks associated withcompiling debt is an inarguable objective for educators and financeprofessionals.
Because we've all read far too many stories of financialilliteracy.
