Remember the ads about some things being priceless? “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Mastercard.” No matter what card we use or how we feel about credit in general, it was an effective campaign. And there was something to the message—some things are priceless.

In closing out the second year of this blog – this being the 24th post—and closing out 2025, I want to go boldly past the dollars and cents, the credit scores, mortgage rates, budgets and investments, and take a look at dollars and sense, with sense referring to why personal financial “success” is important beyond the numbers in our bank account.

Financial wellness means something different to all of us, and that’s a good thing. I don’t teach personal finance with “get rich”, “make a zillion bucks”, or “retire wealthy” as blanket ideals. I try to help folks learn how to manage their finances within an unruly and complicated system so that they can pursue their goals, whether that means building wealth, changing generational perspectives about money, or finding a way to do meaningful work without worrying about how much it pays. Again, our system is messy and loaded with potholes, and even if your goals are non-financial, it takes financial savvy to get there.

And that’s all very personal. For me, financial wellness has categories and milestones, some with $$ but not all. The example I offer today is about walking my kid to school.

(I Didn’t Know) The Impact of Better Money Decisions

When I began to rewrite my personal finance story, I was thinking about my future self, but mostly if not wholly in the context of building up my bank account, probably for the purpose of what it could buy me later in life. Not bad. And the future me stuff was right on target. But what I didn’t know at the time (or didn’t think about) was that a day would come when a stronger financial foundation would be used to fund choices that ultimately have nothing to do with money and are in fact priceless.

This is an excerpt from an essay I wrote a few years ago, highlighting (and counting) the time I was able to spend walking my son to school.

Starting from when he was about one, he has tallied about 1,500 school days. That is about 3,000 trips counting both directions. Five of those years have been in Spain, making up about 1,750 of those 3,000 trips. Of those 1,750, I estimate that I have walked with him on more than 90% of those days. That comes to about 1,600 walks to or from school with my boy. I would apply an even higher ratio from when we lived in Portland, with me having walked or driven him nearly 95% of the time. Let’s call that another 1,200 legs. I’ve walked him to school or back nearly 2,800 times.

I wrote that a few years ago and can now add a few hundred more to that total even though now he usually walks by himself, not necessarily wanting his folks tagging along.

Yes, That’s Priceless! What Does It Have to Do with Money?

The seven years we lived in Spain and all of those walks to school and other places, were largely possible because I was a stay-at-home dad. Part of the reason I could do that was my wife’s career, but if I had not gotten my finances straightened out years earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to sell my home, pack up a few boxes, move across the ocean, and use savings and investments to fund my portion of the adventure. My wife had a good job in Spain, but she was not making a huge salary, we lived in a spartan apartment, owned a very old car, and kept things really simple financially.

Specifically, but not necessarily in order, this was the path that led to those priceless walks:

  • Get spending under control
  • Use a budget
  • Pay off credit card debt and car loans and never go back
  • Save for a down payment and buy a modest (to say the least) fixer-upper home
  • Rent a room in that home for several years, offsetting expenses and paying down mortgage
  • Begin retirement saving
  • Investing savings and proceeds from home sale to help with Spain expenses and expectation of little to no income for several years

Questions:

  • Could I have still spent the time taking those thousands of walks with my son if I hadn’t gotten my finances in order?
    NO, I would have been working four jobs in order to manage my debt, or I would have been doing a job I hated just for the money and/or I would not have been able to be a full-time dad for those years in Spain.
  • What exactly was the payoff of improved money habits?
    For me, it was the freedom to decide, the power of choice, and the value of time.
  • Was there also some luck involved in all of this?
    YES, but it’s something to see how my luck in these areas increased once I stopped carrying thousands of dollars of debt at 21% interest.

I may not have known exactly what I was working toward when I restarted my financial journey, but one thing I am absolutely certain of is that the path to financial wellness has given me choices and paid dividends—a return on investment —well beyond what any stock, bond, or bank account ever could.

Now, if I can only figure out a way to fix our political system. Let’s see, first…

“OK, class, today we’re going to cover life insurance. This is one of the more important yet misunderstood … Class? Gang? Hello, is this thing on?”, I said, every time I approached this topic, tapping my white board marker as if it were the microphone and I was the failing stand-up comic.

I get it. I don’t want to talk about it either — as a consumer.  But as a financial educator — I do, I do believe in life insurance.

Why Don’t We Want to Talk about Life Insurance?

This entire post and the book sequel could be based on this question alone. Let’s look at this and then connect it to practical steps towards getting (or not) covered.

  1. It’s hard enough to think about our future alive self when it comes to money not to mention our not-living self. This is part of the reason why it’s hard to save, reel in spending, manage credit score, avoid huge car loans at 21 years old, make smart decisions about education and borrowing, etc.
  2. Talking about life insurance means that at some point the word death or dead or deceased will have to be used in a sentence to describe yourself or someone you care about. Yuck.
  3. Culture, family history, and personal preference lead many to flat out not believe in life insurance.
  4. Fear of the pushy salesperson. Hey, I used to be one of those guys! Of course, I wasn’t pushy. This is a real thing as the art of selling life insurance too often takes precedence over whether someone actually needs or wants it.
  5. Confusion! There are several different types of life insurance and what feels like 100s of companies. I wonder… If life insurance were required by law like car insurance, would companies resort to marketing it with strangely named animals?
  6. It’s an expense, and it’s an expense for something we can’t benefit from ourselves.
  7. It is (usually) costly, depending on type, need, health, etc.

Now Can We Talk about It? A Few Things to Know about Life Insurance

Understand Need: The fundamental question, right? Do I need life insurance? This is where our values come into play, possibly more than our finances. Personal finance folks like myself focus on the facts, but it is ultimately a personal and sometimes emotional decision to buy life insurance. In terms of those facts, the need for coverage can be based on several factors:

  • Is someone dependent on your income?
  • Is there a particular debt you would want paid in the event of your passing?
  • Is there a specific cause you would want to benefit?
  • Do you simply want to leave a person or persons a pile of cash to enjoy?
  • Do you want the peace of mind of knowing that some or all of these needs are at least partially addressed through life insurance?

How Much to Buy? A good sales representative will help you through an objective analysis which considers income replacement, debt, education costs, charitable considerations, tax implications, etc. For example:

  • Amount based on an income multiplier like two-, three-, or four-times annual salary.
  • Amount based on debts to be covered such as a mortgage.
  • Amount based on how much to leave to a certain person or organization.
  • Amount based on affordability.
  • A combination or sum of the above.

What Kind to Buy? This is where is gets…oh, what’s the right adjective? Is there a list of adjectives to describe life insurance options? I’m going to say sticky – in my mind that is a combination of tricky and intimidating. What adds to the stickiness is that there are a lot of opinions on this subject. The best you can do is learn about the different types, get further advice from an insurance professional, financial planner or counselor, then make an informed decision. The major players:

  • Term Life: insurance for a specific number of years, (10, 15, 20, etc.).
    • Relatively inexpensive compared to other types
    • Use it or lose it. No cash value.
    • Possible to renew or extend at a new rate depending on health.
  • Whole Life: coverage for a price all the way until age 99.
    • Much more expensive than term.
    • Builds cash value which can be stored, borrowed, or become part of death benefit.
  • Variable Life: offers insurance and the chance to build cash through various investments options.
    • Often thought of as a hybrid of term and whole life.
    • Permanent, lifelong coverage.
    • It can build cash but the only guaranteed part is the death benefit as investments can fluctuate in value.
  • Universal Life: has features of whole and variable life policies but also can offer flexibility in terms of coverage and premiums.
    • Permanent, lifelong coverage.
    • Flexible, but the pure insurance piece is more expensive compared to term.
    • Investments not guaranteed and a drop in value can cause a policy to lapse.
    • Complicated product.
  • Employer-based or Group Coverage: sometimes part of an employee benefit package which can provide relatively inexpensive coverage based on salary.
    • Not portable – no coverage once you leave that job.
  • Declining Balance Term: the death benefit mirrors your mortgage balance, so as the mortgage is paid, the insurance benefit declines (towards zero).
    • Relatively inexpensive way to provide peace of mind that your home would be paid for in full in the event of your death.

Or Just Live Forever

As with any kind of insurance, it comes down to a cost/benefit analysis, looking at what we need vs. what we want, how much risk we want to retain, and in this case, what others need and want. It’s easy enough to get online quotes on life insurance, but here are a few final things to consider:

  • Get a recommendation for a licensed agent from someone who understands your values and has had a positive experience with that agent.
  • Research the company in terms of their service and financial strength.
  • Understand that depending on the type and amount, a medical exam might be required.
  • If you buy life insurance make sure to identify the beneficiary or beneficiaries.

Among debtors, 60% reported financial stress post-Black Friday, emphasizing the psychological toll of holiday overspending. – Federal Reserve Data

At some point when I lived in Spain I  noticed the emergence of “Black Friday” sales and thought, “What?!” My brain sizzled with a Grinchy stammer, “They don’t have Thanksgiving, they don’t have the day after Thanksgiving… Yes, they have the end-of-year holidays with presents, but no day after Thanksgiving. So, how can they have Black Friday?”

It didn’t take long for me to grasp that it was a standard marketing gimmick, designed to make Spaniards believe they were getting some kind of deal, when all they were really getting was a demonstration of the timeless proverb about how a fool and his euros are soon parted.

Unofficial research done through my various English classes confirmed my suspicion that Spanish people had no idea what “Black Friday” meant in connection to retail shopping; they heard of it but didn’t know where, they assumed it was some kind of American thing tied to Christmas, and they absolutely planned to participate.

The most fascinating thing for me was how Spanish marketers pulled this rabbit out of a hat, slapped a 40% off sign on it, and watched as shoppers jumped. Of course, this was not because they were Spanish — how many Americans drop a chunk of their paycheck every May 5th for reasons they probably can’t explain?

Black Friday Savings: What part of that should be in air quotes?

First of all, let me reaffirm that I am not anti-capitalism, so I don’t have anything against companies doing their part which is to make profits. I’m not sure it’s the best system, but it’s the best we have. I am, however, pro personal finance success, and those two things often work against each other. Right, I’m invoking the Paradox of Thrift; consumer spending is critical to our economic success as a country but controlling our own spending is critical to our individual financial success.

I recommend doing your best to ruin the economy this holiday season, and a key part of that process is to leave Black Friday (and all other gimmicks) behind.

More from the Federal Reserve:

  • 18 million Americans reported using high-interest payday loans to cover Black Friday spending in 2023.
  • Black Friday-related bankruptcies saw a 7% increase year-over-year, with analysts linking the trend to escalating borrowing costs.
  • Late payment fees from BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) plans during Black Friday totaled $150 million, a 20% jump from 2022.

Staggering. That’s $150 million that didn’t buy anything. $150 million that didn’t go towards retirement plans, wasn’t used to pay off debt, saved for a car, invested for education, etc.

Reject FOMO and Say Goodbye to Black Friday Blues

I like to give gifts. I like to buy things for myself. What I like even more is feeling good before, during, and after spending. The great marketing machine that surrounds us wants us to believe that we have to “get the deal” in order to be happy about what we buy. “Don’t miss this Black Friday deal – up to 40% off” really means “If you don’t get something now and at this price, you will somehow be less happy, you will be missing out, and we hope you didn’t notice that the 40% is often deceiving.”

No judgement, no shame. I have played every role in this play (including waiting in line at 3 am in order to save $50 on a set of speakers), but the one I’ve been playing for many years now has been the most fulfilling. The only things I’ve missed by not participating in Black Friday or any other sales gimmicks are the hole in my budget, the drain on my bank account, and the weight of that bloated January 15th credit card bill.

Practical Tips for Managing Holiday Spending

Leave FOMO behind – this is not easy, and I don’t want to minimize the potential difficulty involved in understanding the psychological connections between FOMO, Black Friday pressure, and our financial health. However, the behavioral piece is one of the biggest factors when reigning in any type of want-based consumption, and if it’s not tackled, other strategies will fall short. To dig into your relationship with money, I recommend a book by Dr. Sarah Newcomb: Loaded: Money, Psychology, and How to Get Ahead without Leaving Your Values Behind. I’ll throw in one of her articles as a bonus.

Budget, budget, budget – work potential purchases into your budget without spending more than you are taking in. Make cuts here to pay for there, etc. If your budget can’t handle it, walk away.

Pay cash and/or only use plastic for budget-friendly buys – this is an extension of the budget comment. Watch out for thoughts like, “Put in on the Visa and pay for it later.”

Research – if you’ve determined that your budget can afford the item and/or that it is a need rather than a want, put that old internet to good use and see if the Black Friday price is actually special. Most research that I’ve seen (as well as my own experience) suggests that prices have a way of creeping up in the weeks leading to Thanksgiving – so 40% off of an inflated price is not really a deal at all.

 *****

It’s a never-ending balancing act. It’s nice to buy things. It’s even nicer to buy things for someone else. It’s nice to receive gifts. I like gifts! But when gifting (and spending in general) leads to financial stress, that’s not a gift for anyone.

Timeless personal finance advice to fill your mind and, hopefully, your wallet

I Googled “Personal Finance Advice” just to see what AI would say. Wow, what came out closely resembled the outline for every personal finance course I’ve ever taught. Hey, wait! Everyone wants to know if people are cheating by using AI, but what if Uncle AI is stealing from us?!

All kidding aside, the advice was solid, no complaints. But, of course, it reads like a textbook. It’s technical and mechanical. There is just no personal in its personal finance content, and while I am not here to offer a referendum on the use of AI in general, I am here to talk about personal finance advice. I’m here to talk about impactful, effective, and lasting personal finance advice.

It Takes a Long Time to Turn a Big Boat

I don’t know who said that or what it was in reference to, but I love it, and I feel it. My financial boat has never been very big, but it certainly was at one time headed in the wrong direction, and it took a village of voices and encouragement to change its course. Ultimately, it required my own action to make a real difference, but I wasn’t alone. For me, the first and loudest voice was Dave Ramsey.

Dave’s shows are sometimes endless rants of one classic quote after another, but to follow my own rules, I must pick a #1.

“Live like no one else so that someday you can live like no one else.”

Translation into language that my formerly bad-money-decision driven mind could understand; stop using credit cards and car loans to buy things you can’t afford but that you think you should have because other people do… And then down the road you might be able to live without constantly worrying about money.

I can’t move on without at least one more from Dave.

“Be weird.”

This usually comes after he lays out what the average American does when it comes to money; spends too much, borrows too much, lives beyond their means too much. So, he pushes us to go against that, to spend less than we make, to budget, to drive used cars, to think about our future selves. I’m not totally there, but the more I keep at it, the weirder I get.

Facing Our Financial Realities

Suze Orman has to be on any list of folks who talk money, and one of her sayings left a huge impression on me when I was struggling to make better decisions.

“Live in your truth.”

I think the full quote might be, “Stop lying to yourself and live in your truth”, but the second part is what hit me hard. There are many areas where this advice can be applied to our financial lives. In my case, it scored the most points when it came to cars. Even when I understood the numbers, even when it was clearly beyond my means to get (another) new car, I did it anyway! I tricked myself into believing false narratives about repairs, refinancing, and rates. I still fumble with money, but I strive to be in a place where when I know I am not making the best choice, I accept the opportunity cost, move on, and live in that truth.

Check out this post for more insight into my perspective on car loans.

Digging into My Money Mindset

Can I quote an entire book or two? If so, it would be these two books from Maine’s own Dr. Sarah Newcomb:

  • Loaded: Money, Psychology, and How to Get Ahead without Leaving Your Values Behind
  • I Hate Money: Understanding Your Financial Attitude

I met Sarah several years ago at a Maine Jump$tart event, and although by that time I was in better shape with my own money, her presentations and books gave me a huge boost as a teacher of personal finance. It’s nearly impossible to choose a single quote or catchphrase to capture the impact of Sarah’s work, but I can say that it led me to spend more time on the psychological aspects of our money decisions and even led to me writing a little story about my own early experiences with money.

“When it comes to money, we’ve all got issues.”

Simple. Direct. Powerful. Memorable. Thank you, Sarah.

This Is about the Benjamin

Finally, no writing on this topic would be complete without a nod to perhaps the master of sensibility, Benjamin Franklin. We all know or should know, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Could that be the most classic and well-known money quote of all time? Maybe, but I recently found this one, and it’s quickly becoming a go-to, even though it comes with the risk that I sometimes have to translate its meaning (that includes me as well, as I had to look it up!).

“Six Pounds a Year is but a Groat a Day.”

This is a perfect compliment to my work at FAME as me and my colleagues offer this advice in many ways, whether we are discussing personal finance or saving for education. In our dialect it means something like small money decisions can have a big impact down the road, every little bit helps or watch out for how those “small” monthly expenses add up over the course of a year.

And Really Finally…

I’ve developed a few of my own sayings over the years. Not sure if I’ll ever be considered “quotable”, but here goes.

On the power of economics, “If someone tells you that something is free, put your hand on your wallet, back away slowly, find the real cost.”

On the reasons why to save and invest, “Take part in the economy or it will take a part of you.”

From 25 to 29 and Counting: Personal Finance Education Requirements

When I started this blog in April of 2024, there were 25 states that had passed legislation requiring high school students to take a personal finance course before graduation.

As of June 22, 2025, the club has grown to 29 with Texas being the latest to join following California (June 2024), Kentucky (March 2025), and Colorado (May 2025).

No, Maine is not there yet, but financial education is still happening – in classrooms, at home, in blogs…

News from the Classroom

In July, FAME held its Personal Finance Summer Institute, hosted by Waynflete School in Portland and taught by yours truly, along with John Raby from Thornton Academy in Saco, and Shiho Burnham from Baxter Academy in Portland. This was the second year for this course, and the 14 students in attendance represented Portland High School, Baxter Academy, Deering High School, Casco Bay High School, and Brunswick High School. What makes that list even more special is that John Raby joined me to teach this course partly as preparation for this fall when he will be teaching Thornton Academy’s first ever personal finance class (and Shiho used this course to provide her with more tools for Baxter’s existing personal finance offering).

The 24-hour course covered banking, saving, investing, credit, credit scores, economics, insurance, taxes, and budgeting. In fact, budgeting was the cornerstone of the class and allowed students to build a 12-month fictional stage of life budget. Most importantly, the budgeting part of the Summer Institute was designed to foster a skill for life, and the students now have a deeper understanding of how to use a budget and why it is a crucial item in the personal finance toolbox.

Also, by the time this post is published, I will have started teaching a semester-long personal finance course at the Maine College of Art & Design. Not surprisingly, budgeting is the foundation and ongoing thread of that course.

Personal Finance Quiz Pop-Quiz

All of this teaching and thinking about personal finance course requirements has me in outcomes mode. So, the teacher in me says, it’s pop-quiz time. Let’s go with three divisions – youth, high school, and adult. No fancy technology here, so you’ll have to scroll to the end to check your answers. (Questions compiled from a variety of sources, including my own classes.)

Youth Division (up through grade 8)

  1. Why does money have value? (Why can we buy things with it?)
    1. Our money is made of a very rare form of thin, green, gold leaf
    2. We believe (we have faith) in what it represents
    3. It grows on trees
  2. What are savings?
    1. Money that we use to buy hot dogs
    2. Money that we give to our friends to fix their skateboards
    3. Money that we put aside to pay for things in the future
  3. What is the best plan for your next $20?
    1. Spend all $20 at the movies, definitely paying $8 for popcorn
    2. Save $5, spend $10 at the movies, spend $5 on a gift for mom
    3. Dig a hole in the yard and bury the $20
  4. What is an example of something you need?
    1. Food and water
    2. Video games
    3. $200 Messi jersey
  5. What’s the secret to long-term success with money?
    1. Spend everything you make
    2. Spend more than you make
    3. Spend less than you make

High School Division (up through age 18 or so)

  1. When deciding what to buy, the best plan is to:
    1. Always go with the cheapest option
    2. Always go with what is popular
    3. Always think about the relationship between the cost and the benefit
  2. What is a budget?
    1. A spending plan
    2. A statement showing how much money you earned last year
    3. The amount you can spend using a credit card
  3. Investing in stock means:
    1. Loaning money to the government
    2. Owning a part of a corporation
    3. Opening a business
  4. Which is a type of bank account that pays a fixed rate of interest for a fixed term?
    1. Checking account
    2. High-yield savings account
    3. Certificate of deposit (CD)
  5. What’s the secret to long-term financial success?
    1. Spend everything you make
    2. Spend more than you make
    3. Spend less than you make

Adult Division (everyone else)

  1. Which of these is your friend when you save and your enemy when you borrow?
    1. Dividends
    2. Compound interest
    3. Time
  2. Which type of policy is managed by the Federal Reserve Bank in order to promote stable prices and full employment?
    1. Fiscal policy
    2. Monetary policy
    3. Foreign policy
  3. Which investment generally carries the highest risk?
    1. Single stocks
    2. Money market savings accounts
    3. Stock mutual funds
  4. Which mortgage will cost the most in the long run? (no calculators, just instinct, rate on 15 year is .5% lower)
    1. $2000/month for 30 years
    2. $2800/month for 15 years
  5. Everything matters; interest rates, credit score, income, health, luck… However, all things being equal, what’s the secret to long-term financial success?
    1. Spend everything you make
    2. Spend more than you make
    3. Spend less than you make

*****

As I wrote this post, I thought about those questions and about Maine’s progress towards a personal finance graduation requirement, and I wondered:

  • Would a personal finance class have made a difference for me?
  • Would it have helped me avoid my wasted financial decade, known as my 20s?
  • How much will it help today’s students to prepare for their financial futures?

For my part, I can only say that I wish that I had had the chance to find out. I wish that learning about the risks of credit cards had crossed my desk before the credit card companies passed out the free t-shirt along with a $500 limit gateway card.

For the current high school generation, a note from one of my summer students commenting on the role of money and on how learning about money has prepared him for life after high school.

“To me, money is not status. It’s the ability to make my own choices. It’s the idea to invest in myself, the discipline to save for tomorrow, and the understanding that money won’t make me happy, but it will give me the setting where happiness can root.”

Yep, that’s why I do this work.

Answers Youth: b, c, b, a, c

Answers High School: c, a, b, c, c

Answers Adult: b, b, a, a, c

Seville, Spain, sometime in 2018, English conversation class for college students. The topic: money.

“Credit score, credit bureaus… Oh boy, it’s tough to translate something that doesn’t exist in Spain. In fact, nearly all of Europe and most of the world do not use credit scores and don’t have centralized credit reporting agencies,” I told this class, as I had told many before, both in Spain and the Czech Republic.

“Can you explain it to us?” they asked.

“I’m not sure, but I will enjoy trying,” I replied, wondering if they had seen Fight Club. 

The American economic system is complicated (in casual conversations a stronger adjective is needed), and navigating our system when it comes to personal finance is complicated times ten. This is true in a vacuum and is especially obvious when compared to other countries. Yes, “land of opportunity” still rings true, and I say that after living abroad for 10 years and having taught students from more than a dozen countries. But the costs of that opportunity (sweet economics pun for anyone paying attention to such things) are the sometimes mile-high and spiky hoops we must jump through to get to, and maintain, those opportunities.

What makes it complicated? Hmm… Let me see if I can think of a few things: 

  • Credit scores 
  • The cost of higher education and student loans
  • Relatively easy access to credit
  • Predatory lending, check-cashing businesses, rent-to-own, etc.
  • Health care costs and access to affordable insurance
  • Social security
  • The national debt
  • The non-stop marketing machine that drives consumer society

Exhale. I realized I was holding my breath as I was typing. I further realized that I’d better stop there so as not to turn the whole blog into a list.

Oops, I can’t leave this one off the list: a lack of financial education to help face those challenges.

I can’t say these issues don’t exist in other countries. But I can say from personal experience and research that Nobody Does it Better than US, and “better” in this case is not always a good thing. Yet even with those challenges, America is still near the top of any list in terms of personal economic opportunity.

Has it always been so tough? In some ways it was certainly tougher on Americans before stronger labor laws, social security, banking regulations, and relative progress towards economic equality for all regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. But some things have gotten worse, or are relatively new problems, such as easy access to credit and the consequences it brings. Statistics on credit card use and debt are easy to find and understand, but not easy to put into perspective. One thing is clear: in 1970, less than 50% of Americans had a credit card, and now it’s over 90%. Yes, convenience and technology are a part of that, and some of the side effects of credit card use are objectively good (safety compared to cash, cross-marketing benefits, etc.).

All Together Now

The connection to the complicated American financial system is that when it’s so easy to get credit, it’s so easy to misuse it, pile up debt, and make a real financial mess. Yet, as a nation, we allow our 18-year-olds into this system without the educational foundation (a shield) to understand and protect against the double-edged sword of compound interest. 

The generations responsible for allowing financial education to be largely ignored have an excuse; it wasn’t that long ago that credit cards were not easily available, people got jobs that they kept for 30 or 40 years which provided health care and pensions, a college degree was not in as high demand or as expensive (adjusted for inflation), there were no 72-month, $40,000 car loans, and our life expectancy was not a decade or more longer than our career expectancy.

It’s no one’s fault that it’s so tough out there. Our society and its unprecedented economic experiment have evolved, and there is plenty of good in that evolution. It will be everyone’s fault, however, if we don’t catch up and better prepare our new adults to step into the financial funhouse that we call American capitalism.

So, I ask myself again today, “What can I do to help one student, one class, one person, not only survive our system but learn to thrive in it?” Won’t you join me?