I first got to know Dr. Hensley two years ago when I joined the board of the National Endowment for Financial Education. Having sat on previous national and local non-profit boards, I immediately knew that there was something very special about NEFE. It was a time of transition; NEFE’s iconic CEO Ted Beck had just announced his retirement. To say that whoever was selected to replace him would have big shoes to fill was quite the understatement.
The competition for the role was extremely stiff, and Dr. Hensley was ultimately selected for the job. Both his passion for this work and his unique approach informed by his undergraduate degree in psychology, his master’s degree in education, and his doctorate in educational studies set him apart. It meant that Dr. Hensley brought with him a skill set that ranged from understanding human fears around money curriculum to putting in place the elusive but essential components that enable education to result in behavior change.
In this episode, you’ll hear Dr. Hensley’s down-to-earth, no-nonsense approach to this vital issue. Most of all, it will leave you with a comprehensive overview of the state of financial literacy and education in America today.
Manisha’s Top Takeaways
- Surprisingly, financial fragility exists at a wide range of income levels.
Twenty percent of people earning $100,000 or more would have difficulty coming up with $2,000 in a month if they had to by any means necessary. The need for financial education crosses all sorts of demographics. [21:00]
- The question of why don’t we have mandatory financial education classes in all high schools has a much more complex answer than you might think.
For example, each of the 50 states makes their own decisions about how to educate students. What’s more, when you add financial education to the curriculum, something else must come out. Then there’s the issue of whether teachers tasked with teaching financial literacy have been given proper training to do so. The list goes on… [3:45]
- While we tend to speak of the American Dream as if it is one unified viewpoint, that’s a culturally simplistic and financially dangerous way to frame it.
The American Dream has always been in flux, from no taxation without representation, to Manifest Destiny, to the unbridled and unregulated capitalism of the 1920s, to the push for homeownership in the late 20th century. [24:20]
Other Major Topics
- Like grocery shops and clothing stores, educational institutions also struggle with this issue! [5:50]
- Type this common financial question into Google and you will get 25 million results. [10:20]
- The commonalities between obesity in America and lack of financial literacy [12:25]
Resources Cited in the Episode
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