When you consider the various subjects taught in schools today, many of which are of little relevance in everyday life, it does make you wonder why basic property investment is not on the agenda. While this may seem a slightly bizarre statement at first glance, it is worth bearing in mind that buying a property or even renting a property could be one of the biggest financial decisions of your future life. As a consequence, the vast majority of young homeowners will leave education with little or no knowledge of property investment or how to run their finances.
Learning about investment
A gentle introduction to investing for the future would surely give young adults a good grounding and a starting point for their future lives. There are more than enough examples of right, wrong and indifferent property investment decisions to show the various investment strategies and what can happen. In the real world it is very easy to look back with hindsight but when teaching property investment, any type of investment for that matter, there are some brilliant examples of how markets react to economic change, taxation and general trends.
Looking after your finances
When you also bear in mind that many young adults leave education with little or no knowledge about “looking after their finances” surely there is scope for improvement here? An ability to manage your finances, plan ahead within your budget and also look to the future for investment opportunities is vital for young and old alike. While many might argue this is too much too soon surely it is better to be prepared for “real life” and have at least a basic understanding of finances.
In many ways it seems as though education systems around the world are happy to teach factual-based subjects but when it comes to real life and everyday finances for some reason these are ignored. As we mentioned above, buying a property will likely be the biggest financial decision you will ever make so why are more people not prepared and fully understanding of the potential consequences.
Talking with the experts
Whether you are young or old we all have people we look up to whether this is from a personal point of view of perhaps an appreciation of their investment skills. While the vast majority of those in the education system would likely look up to sports stars and other similar figures surely there is scope to talk with experts in areas such as property investment, people who have been there and done it. When you bear in mind the number of entrepreneurs which countries such as the UK have created, with perhaps minimal encouragement at school, surely this could be improved by introducing experts to the mix?
Conclusion
Despite the fact that investment decisions in areas such as property and pensions, not to mention everyday life, will be vital in later years these subjects are often discounted for education purposes. As young adults move towards the end of their education their minds will wander, they will look for guidance and what better way to prepare them than to give them real life financial management skills?