I think the Time Value of Money is one of the most important concepts any lay person should understand but most don't. I came out of college (an Ivy league scho

I think the Time Value of Money is one of the most important concepts any lay person should understand but most don't. I came out of college (an Ivy league school) as a physics major with zero understanding of finance. At my first job, one of the first things my boss asked me was, "What would you pay me today in exchange for me paying you $100 in one year?" That, of course, led to a lesson on the time value of money. Not a difficult concept to grasp, but despite a great education, I had never had an occasion to think about it and understand it. Once you get that concept, everything else about finance and investing is pretty straightforward. I wish every high schooler had a basic finance course that started with that same question. Then moved on to personal finance basics like understanding interest (credit cards, car loans, mortgages, etc) and net worth (assets) v. income.