So, in general I definitely agree. But it’s also important to recognize that it’s difficult to know what you don’t know. My first year in college I was placed

So, in general I definitely agree. But it’s also important to recognize that it’s difficult to know what you don’t know. My first year in college I was placed into “math in the real world”—the class for kids that can’t even cut it in a 100-level math course. In of the first lessons the professor asked us how we might purchase something we don’t have money for. No exaggeration: I was the only person that suggested saving up for the item. Every single person in that class was competent enough to understand basic financial literacy. But somehow they made it 18-20 years before learning about savings, compound interest, etc. It gets more difficult, too. I bet most people don’t know that overdrawing and other “bad” behavior can lead to you getting blackballed in Chex, making it really difficult to open bank accounts elsewhere. How do you even search for that? I’ve had to stop and remind people that when you transfer money from a tax-advantaged retirement account you need to make sure to transfer it directly—withdrawing it into your bank account can cause a taxable event. Stuff like that is easy to look up. People should look it up. But how do you know you need to look it up?