I became deeply interested in the stock market back some 60 years ago.

Our class was given $ 1000 (no, not in real money) and we were to buy and sell stocks- even options (puts and calls)- over the course of a few months.  The ones who had the most money at the end of the program would win an award.

Yes, our teacher also taught us what a put and a call was.  You know what they are right?

A put means we believe a stock is going to tank, it’s going to lose value.  And, buying a put meant we were spending a small amount of money (it was typically 10% of the price of the stock) to obtain the right to sell the stock at a specified price some time in the future.  A call was basically the opposite.  We spend a small amount of money (that 10% again) to buy the stock at certain price.  It meant we thought the value would rise.

Now, that 10% wasn’t a hard and fast rule- it depended on how likely it would be that our guess was right.  If everyone agreed, then the option (that’s what the puts and calls are called) are pretty expensive.  If we were considered looney birds, then the option price was pretty small (since the owner of the equity would get to keep the option price and we would get nothing, we’d just lose out option bid).

The game was pretty simple- we were charged a small fee for buying and selling the stock (I seem to remember it was 5%) and there was no minimum purchase or sale (it could be as little as 1 share or as many shares as we had funds to buy).  Two of us (me and my friend Carl) played the options part of the market, but held one or two stocks that we knew would hold value.  But, most of the kids bought and sold whole stocks.

The concept was we’d learn about the stock market, how to read stock market charts (back then they were encoded in eighths of a dollar, now it’s dollars and cents), how to compute percentages, and how to keep accurate records.

And, I don’t remember who else won.

But, over the next period, it was our job to run a household.  We were provided a weekly salary (I don’t remember how much, but don’t forget, this was 1958) and we had to pay rent, buy food, pay for utilities, and transportation to our jobs (fuel, no service or car payments).

All of these games were arranged to teach us fiscal responsibility, as well as mathematics and record keeping.

Which is exactly what one of my buddies has been trying to get his prep school (the one he went to decades and decades ago) to offer the students.  And, while Andy has been willing to fund the program, the school has demurred.  (One could almost say refused…)

To be honest, I understand how well my school’s programs prepared me for life. I was able to handle credit cards, a paycheck, covering my household needs at a very early age.  I knew that the credit card- if used correctly- was an aid to extend my money.  Never spend more than I could afford, but I only needed to part with my money at the end of the statement cycle- so I always had money for an emergency.

These skills have clearly not been spread among our kids and our citizenry.  It’s one of the reasons why some 40% of all Americans don’t have $ 400 to cover them for an emergency.  And, why most Americans have no clue how the stock market works.

It’s also why millennials had accumulated more than $ 1 trillion in debt- the highest ever for this age bracket (18 to 29) in more than a decade.  (It IS the highest ever, but, when considering inflation, we can see that right before the bank failures, debt by that age range had also escalated.)

And,this deficit been growing faster each successive year since 2007.   (Don’t be too smug you older folks;  24% of the next generation (ages 30 to 39) have increased their credit card debt, compared to just 11% for those over 40 (and less than 59) years of age.)

I do admit that a good portion of this skyrocketing debt load is associated with student loans.  Student loans comprise almost 40% [38%] of all debt load carried by those under the age of 40.

This problem is why, like my pal Andy, the Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy wants to educate our school age kids.  This coalition of some 100 local groups wants to increase the number of students developing financial literacy by at least 25% over the next 5 years. And, they don’t want just a one-off (a single event, or one hour of lecture)- no, they want the minimum program to involve some 70 hours of instruction.

They have a 12 month program they want schools to teach, each one based upon a financial principle.  I certainly hope they make great headway.

The future adults of America should be banking on it.

(Yes, I love corny jokes.)