Former NFL player Carl Nassib: "Gen Z college players are living the dream–but they could become cautionary tales if they don’t educate themselves about personal finance.’’
Finance
Carl Nassib: Former NFL player and author of "Living the Dream But Can We Afford It." Carl shares his story on becoming one of the most successful players ever but also shares his thoughts on financial literacy among young people.
In 2015, former NFL player Carl Nassib released his first book “Living the Dream—But Can We Afford It.” In it, he shared his story of rising from homelessness to becoming one of the most successful NFL players of all time. The book was so well-received that former President Bill Clinton praised Nassib saying: “What struck me about the book was its focus on how Carl has stayed connected with his roots, to his family, friends and community. He made a conscious effort not to let himself become a statistic, but to remain grounded in what’s important to him.”
Fast forward four years to 2019, things seem to have changed dramatically for young people, more specifically Gen Z, as financial literacy skills lack among them. This lack of personal financial planning abilities will result in students who lack the knowledge necessary to know how to budget and manage their money wisely. According to a recent report by “Kellogg Institute of Education Research” , “73% of students at four year colleges and universities do not know where the Federal Reserve is located. That is a huge problem since the Federal Reserve sets interest rates that affect borrowing costs, including student loans which can cost up to $40,000 over the course of a college career.”
One of the main causes of this gap in financial literacy is the fact that teachers are not teaching them the material. Also, students today don't understand how much they spend. For example, students often go through video game rental stores without realizing that renting games on Steam or Xbox live is very expensive even if you try to buy it for less than its actual cost on sale.
Another reason why there is a gap between the generations is because many parents don't get involved and teach them how to deal with their finances. Students may also be lacking in time management skills so they can't schedule bills, appointments, work, family, and entertainment. As one parent said: “When I was in school, we had to balance our schedules. If your grade was low, then we would have to put off classes for next period till we could re-earn A’s. It was not an easy thing, but we managed it somehow. In today's time, it seems like some parents forget about such things.”
The reality is most parents don't know the amount of money going into the family accounts from an early age. As we all know, raising kids costs thousands of dollars each year alone. You could say that Gen Z has become more financially illiterate as they enter adulthood but as with everything else in life if they didn't learn this information at some point, they will probably regret it later when they face financial troubles. For parents who plan on educating their children, what the next generation needs now is knowledge about student loans, retirement planning, building credit, as well as realizing how important the Federal Reserve is. They need to start teaching them the material while they are young enough to understand it. With all these things in mind, the next article should be a financial literacy class to help students learn how to manage their money wisely before they graduate or enter the working world. If there is anything you disagree with this article please comment below!
