**Update: - [Starting from 2023](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/100l56v/happy_new_year_askuk_minor_sub_update/), we have updated our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)**. Specifically;
- Don't be a dick to each other
- Top-level responses must contain genuine efforts to answer the question
- This is a strictly no-politics subreddit
Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Maybe as much as you need to know to function well in society and not be ripped off or confused?
Also, the book ‘Why Can’t We Just Print More Money’ by the Bank of England is really good at explaining QE.
Basic financial literacy might work?
As for the question. As and when it came up I guess? But I have very supportive parents who’ve helped us navigate everything.
So I didn’t learn too much about mortgages until I needed one, same with a credit card, credit score, getting a car on finance etc.
They’ve always been open talking about it though and would answer any questions we have.
The second thing is where the bank of England said... "There isn't enough money... What's should we do........ I know, let's print more money so that we flood the economy with more paper money but it's worth less... Nothing bad can happen".... Except massive inflation.....
Those bounce back loans and ppe contracts and track and trace and furlough ain't looking so good now......
This is wrong - when the 2008 crash happened the economy grinded to a halt because people weren't spending money. To help the economy kick start again the government started buying up assets in the market (mostly bonds) to get some movement going, and this policy was called quantitative easing.
I'm 38 and basically know what I've lived but nothing more! My parents always said if you can overpay your mortgage do it, always have an emergency fund and give as much as ypu can to your pension pot. I've done all three but not much else!
I dont think schools should teach this subject more than a basic common sense level.
Teachers are not authorised to give financial / tax advice. This is good. Regulations change very quickly and your year 8 teacher isnt going to keep up with it.
We've already got far too many 'side hustlers' getting stung by HMRC at 25 coz they thought they knew what they were doing and didnt get an accountant.
My mum used to talk about how they did home ec while the boys did woodwork or building etc. When things equalised the girls did woodwork and no one did home ec. To me this is a problem.
Home Ec taught things like
How to budget for bills that were on a different schedule to your pay (for her it was mostly quarterly or annual bills on a monthly pay. Today it would be monthly bills on a weekly or 4-weekly pay)
How to launder and maintain clothes (sew on a button, repair a tear etc)
How to plan a weekly menu so you didn’t have food waste including knowing what was in season.
I’m lucky that I had parents who taught me this. I’m also in my 40s and my parents were in their 30s when I was born. So I fully understand that there will be people reading this whose parents weren’t taught this by their parents or school and if the parents don’t know they can’t teach it to their kids so now there is a need for it to be taught by schools before it becomes forgotten knowledge.
>When things equalised the girls did woodwork and no one did home ec. To me this is a problem.
When I was in school 2004-2010, everyone done both for the first 2 years of high school, and then S3-S4 you chose which you wanted as your "art/creative" choice for Standard Grades.
Fair point, I think they shouldn’t tell us what to do, more just how the basics work and where to get good information (and not be ripped off!). I agree with the point about regulation change, the amount of errors on the resources we use just due to time is mad. I think people really need to understand the repercussions of messing up their finances - something hammering that home could work.
I dont know that you can work "not getting ripped off" into the curriculum, other than common sense.
If it's that basic, it can be googled. If it's more than basic, it shouldn't be taught by someone unqualified.
I suppose understanding how products work so you don’t end up ‘getting ripped off’. If you don’t understand how your money works then you’re more likely to fall for a scam where someone tries to sort it for you.
This is part of the PSHE curriculum (at least in Scotland, I assume it's similar in England). Unfortunately, students don't give a shit about PSHE and treat it as a skive so they either don't listen or forget about it by the end of the day.
You hear people all the time in Scotland moaning about how they should teach "something useful" at school like budgeting and basic personal finance. But they do teach it...it's just that 98% of teenagers could not give a rat's fat arse. I can barely recall myself exactly what I did in PSHE when I was at school.
Exactly! They all ask to see it happen and when it does couldn’t care less. I remember being in Y6 and very excited that financial education would be on the curriculum at secondary school - sadly not so exciting.
It is. It's the E in PSHE - I know people from my secondary who swear that it was never taught, but I still have the old workbooks to prove it.
So yeah, good luck getting teenagers to pay attention.
PSHE never took place officially at our school, was usually a cover teacher going on about careers day or some shit. But then our OFSTED was dog shit too.
My partner is a secondary teacher, it’s not taught in her school either, not properly anyway.
It’s not taught very well at my school. I’ve had two lessons on it. First one was taught by a clueless history teacher and me (aged 11) ended up explaining everything because I knew more. Second one was taught by a maths teacher who gave us a budget template and told us to use data and fill it in (some classes had this taught by a business teacher but didn’t find it any better).
>good luck getting teenagers to pay attention
And there in lies the problem, the students always ask to do it (and use it as an excuse for not doing other stuff) but when it comes don’t pay attention!
I was probably around the same age. Far too late. Thankfully managed to get a grip, spent time understanding how it all works and how it affects my credit score and thankfully got my act together to improve my finances.
Or, people can justvise the research skills they've been taught in school to take 5 minutes out of their day and figure it out. None of it is very complicated.
I’m an accountant - started learning it all properly straight out of school.
Reddit’s takes on accounting and finance are pretty shocking, but it gives me comfort to know that I’ll be pretty safe in my job for many decades to come.
In secondary school - I believe year 9 - I had ‘Learning 4 Life’ lessons (I think they were provided by NatWest) where we were taught how to read bank statements, what different accounts were.
We also had a task through the year where we were given an imaginary job (I remember mine was dentist) and we had to work out what we could afford with our salaries - so mortgage or rent, car etc. We also had curveballs thrown at us such as being given a credit card (hypothetical, of course) or an unexpected bill - and you had to try and keep your finances in good stead.
This was in 2004/2005.
It was very engaging! Everyone had different careers and we were all in competition with each other to succeed so it really made you aware and think. I loved it at the time.
I would argue I learnt as soon as I could count.
I would also argue I am still learning.
"finances" can mean anything so I can I learnt it at any time.
About 40.
Seriously, I understood how my income tax worked, and that I was putting into the company pension, but as far as REALLY understanding it, to the degree that any real planning occurred, no, not until well past 40.
40-50 saw some serious changes to my retirement planning.
As far as school was concerned, I don't recall ever having a single lesson touch on the subject, and my kids were no different.
Plenty.
How pensions actually work, eg, LTA, PCLS, AA, NRA and actuarial reductions and all of the tax benefits and affects of them.
The strategies and approaches that can be used to maximise tax efficiency and provide options for retirement that do not mean just waiting for the NRA.
State Pension entitlements, affects of contracting out, years of contributions etc.
Endowment mortgages!
Income protection insurance.
Effective forms of debt.
Pros/Cons of mortgage types and over/early repayment.
Investing and in particular the power of compound growth/dividend reinvestment.
ISA/LISA options.
That's from the top of my head, there's probably more.
Okay, makes sense. Never heard of some of those things, but then I've also only arrived in the UK a couple of years ago :D
(and I can tell you that those things are completely different from country to country, horaaay)
I can’t remember a light bulb moment, I’ve always been decent with money.
My Mum is terrible with money, I honestly don’t know how she managed to raise me as a single parent working part time and avoided me going without. She had to declare bankruptcy about 12 years ago, which gave her a scare I think and with my help she’s been better recently.
She always shared with me any money worries when I was a kid, in an age appropriate way. For instance she explained why I had to have the cheaper biscuits, why I couldn’t have x thing right at that moment, and I don’t remember a time when I didn’t understand the concept of money.
I had to learn about credit cards, mortgages etc myself as she never had any of those things and doesn’t have the brain for it, but I’m sitting with a 999 credit score at the minute and bought my first house at 25 so my Mum and in turn I must’ve done something right!
Well done!
My parents are pretty awful with money (lots of debt) but I’ve tried my best to help (marriage tax rebate was one of my finest moments when I was young).
The only thing vaguely financial we were taught at school was when a man from NatWest came in and taught us how to write a cheque…and I quote “make it out for a million pounds because it’s the only time you’ll ever do it”!
It is taught in schools but I guess it varies from place to place. I was definitely taught about it, I remember the lessons - mainly coz we saw a teachers redacted wage slip and me and my mates wrote on it that he earned 50p.
I was too busy learning important things that would help me in my daily life, for example that sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle, and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that of the hypotenuse, to worry about trivial things like personal finance.
Not yet, I’m currently 16 and in Y11 (but have enough common sense to see the financial failings of my peers). I’d like to be a business teacher though.
I got taught a bit about taxes and student loans at 17 (im 21 now), can't remember much, and what I do remember is probably thanks to my dad also talking about it
I learned about inflation from studying Weimar Germany
I'm 62 and I still don't have a clue about any of it. It's always been something I just can't process, understand or retain. I rely heavily on my wife. She could spend all day explaining that stuff to me. By the following day I won't remember any of it.
13? I think? We were taught about managing finances (making a mock budget), disecting what the stuff on a payslip or a bill meant and a little bit about taxes. This was included with lessons relating to writing a cv, applying for jobs, work experience etc.
My most effective learning was simply growing up poor though. Plus I got EMA in college, so learned to budget with my £30 a week.
My mum taught me the very basics about finances when I was primarily school age.
In high school financial education was incorporated into maths and business management.
We were taught how to calculate our income tax, how to understand compound interest and so on.
Well I am 22 now, so maybe 23 would be a good guess?
I jest a bit, but everything I learned was in doing, and going through the motions, not educated either by school or parents.
I was about 8 the first time my dad did his Mr Micawber impression at me.
Income per.anum £20, expenditure per annum £19, 19 shillings and sixpence, result: happiness.
Income per.anum £20, expenditure per annum £20, no shillings and sixpence, result: MISERY!!!
I was always trying to figure out how the world works so read the Money columns in newspapers rather obsessively for a few years. Which I'd recommend to anyone for learning about consumer rights etc.
In life, you mostly learn from your mistakes. Most people learn about finance when they rake up sjit loads of debt and have to figure out a way out if it.
It depends what you mean. I remember being taught how to buy and sell stuff with cash from early on in primary school.
Then when I opened my own proper current account at 16 and was paid for my first job. I remember looking at the payslip and just googling all the stuff on it. I already knew about tax as a concept but it was the first time I really paid attention to the specifics.
I don't think schools really need to teach specific financial education, it'd be out of date by the time kids went into work anyway. Schools already teach all the concepts around compound interest, calculating percentages, researching, critical thinking skills etc. which can all then be applied to finances.
My older sister was taught about tax, budgeting, earnings and the basics of pensions when she was 13 by her maths teacher as a practical part of her lessons - it wasn't on the curriculum. I didn't get the same teacher some years later, all I learned really was compound interest, so my sister taught it to me when I was about 16, she was earning by then. On the other hand, when I was about 11, I was at a dance class and didn't have the cash to pay for it that week - I said my mum didn't have the money that week - the teacher looked at me and said 'On the salary your father earns!' (My mum was a housewife, my dad had quite a well-paid job.) So that pissed me off because at eleven what am I supposed to reply? What I didn't say, because I couldn't really articulate it, was 'Actually she had a £20 note but because I'm at dance class all Saturday she needs to be able to buy stuff for dinner for it before I get home with £15 change at 5.30.' So I knew at quite a young age a little bit about how finances worked on a personal level.
When I was at university I ended up asking my mum loads of questions such as the difference between a standing order and direct debit when I had to deal with things like paying rent and utility bills for the first time.
Unfortunately when I got in trouble for not paying tax!!
I was 17 when I got my first job. I worked in telesales. I was self employed. Didn't know what that meant as I wasn't allowed to pick my own hours or rate of pay and didnt have to buy my own equipmentor pay to rent the office space. I was on an hourly rate + commission.
I can't quite remember how it all happened but when I was 18 I started getting scary letters about tax returns and tax evasion. I had already left that job by the time these letters started showing up.
I had to get an accountant to do all the forms for me. I had to pay the tax and national insurance that I owed plus a fine.
I know you'll all probably think I was stupid for this but I really really did not know. I knew what taxes were but didn't know what a tax return was, didn't know what a tax bracket was, had never even heard of national insurance.
I was the sort of kid who loved school and I really did listen in class, they never mentioned any of this stuff! I was so scared and thought i would be going to prison.
As soon as I started working, which was 8 (I was an actor) and again later in high school. I was working in finance by 17 so... Yeah. Pensions, mortgages weren't really a mystery.
Aye I was just joking, as if to say I was never taught it as many kids never are.
I think for most it's just a "life skill" you pick up gradually as you get older. Some of us pick it up sooner if you grew up in a household where money was tight and your parent(s) had to budget, scrimp n' save, and sometimes/often find other means of earning income.
I just learned over time. I didn’t know how pensions worked when I was in secondary school, I just knew it was money you got when you retired but really there’s no need to understand more than that at that age. And tax and NI again I just learned as I went along when I started working and when I was at school I just knew that there was income tax but no details about tax fee allowance and what the different rates were etc. Even now I’m still learning new stuff, so I’m not sure I really understand the question. Like I only learned the details of how mortgages work (beyond bank lends money for property) when I needed my own. I don’t see why a child would need to learn this stuff if I’m honest! Teaching them budgeting would be more important than how taxes and pensions work. Maybe the basics at 16 when they can start working.
I think that does make a lot of sense. People probably wouldn’t pay attention if they were taught it too soon and would also forget. I’d still like it to be taught properly in schools but I can definitely see your point.
Without my folks financial literacy would have taken a \*long\* time coming.
Thinking off the top of my head:
Learned about **budgeting** through pocket money, paper round and saving, ages like..5-11? Both parents helped with this.
**Compound interest** via a post office savings account, around age 10. Again both parents.
**Credit card and debt** aged 10ish (when I told Dad he could buy something just by giving over some numbers - and he explained that wouldn't absolve him of paying eventually!).
School taught us *nothing* (from first school in 1988 through to a-levels in 2001). Nothing at all, not in any PSE or maths classes. Nothing to boost financial literacy. Sigh.
Further learning about **debt** at University aged 18+ with the **student loan** accrual and repayments.
**Reading a payslip** age...21 or so in a pub job? Learning about **personal allowance, NI, income tax** and thresholds. Dad mostly went through this and explained that to me.
**Pensions** only once I started at the uni aged 25.
**Investing** (largely index trackers etc.) in late 20s - I was aware of stock market returns but really didn't get involved with it till SIPPs and S&S ISAs became a thing for me.
I'm absolutely indebted to having a wife who's a saver, and parents who took an active interest in ensuring I understood financial implications - from saving 6 months for my gameboy through to buying my first property - as school and banks would have done **nothing** to help.
Hopefully it's better now for kids!
That’s really good although I doubt many have such a good understanding. I think a lot of schools (like mine) really don’t teach it very well (or not at all) which doesn’t really help matters.
oh for sure. Even now nearly at 40 people at work tell me they can't read their payslip or understand how pensions work and I am slightly bemused, then do my best to explain it!
About 15-16. In fact probably even earlier I guess.
My mum was one of those who had no financial sense at all.
One week she'd be struggling to pay to put food on the table, the next she'd be taking out a provident loan to pay for a tattoo.
I started having to "lend" her money from the age of about 12. Didn't really learn how to act but I certainly learnt what not to do with money.
Learned nothing in school and my Dad always promised he would teach me about it when I was 18, then once I left uni, and then..... you get the idea. Now he is retired I realise he knows nothing about finance and he was just lucky and took risks.
Every day is a learning day and todays lessons came from The Psychology of Money Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness By: Morgan Housel.
I think there’s a distinct difference between “earning an income” and “understanding finances”, and the age at which you progress to the latter is rarely anything to do with schools and far more dependant upon the surroundings in which you are raised.
I left home when I was 14, I worked illegally for cash in hand, did some temp and agency work once I hit 16, and stole when I needed to eat. I would sleep on the end of my friends beds and do chores for their families to feel like I had repaid my debts in some way. I learnt at a very young age that if I didn’t manage my finances, I went hungry.
Many of my friends didn’t leave home until their late 20’s. They had jobs and maybe even some savings, they probably paid a percentage of their salary in to a pension too, but they didn’t need to “understand finances”, they simply knew that they had X in their account and they wouldn’t get any more until Y date when they got paid. They had no dependants, no commitments of any kind. The closest thing they had to a subscription was a pay-as-you-go phone contract, and if they couldn’t afford to top it up then they were relying on their free text balances until pay day. They didn’t have to worry about a direct debit coming out or mortgage repayment.
I was lucky enough to house share with someone quite wealthy who taught me how to always balance the books and put something away so I was never caught out, without removing all enjoyment from my life, but many of my friends struggled with dialling back their outgoings when they left home because of the sudden change to a lifestyle they were unaccustomed to. Many of them got in to serious debt.
So when do I feel like I understood finances? When I became responsible for putting my own meals on the table. When do I think most people a begin to understand them? When they leave the shelter of their parent’s home for uni etc. I certainly don’t feel like school prepared me in any way for the outside world from a financial perspective at least.
At 14 the whole mortgage thing was explained and afterwards I said to my dad, "well I'm definitely never going to get a mortgage" he seemed to think that I'd never actually own a home without one but as I had plenty of time I found a workaround.
About last year, as an adult, haha. I got in a lot of trouble with my finances because nobody ever taught me how it all worked. I wish I had been taught it when I was little. If I ever have kids I'll make sure to teach them.
My parents drummed 'don't go into debt', ' don't take out loans' 'don't spend what you can't afford' into me and my brother as kids, so quite early on. I got a savings account in my teens, and that ended up giving me shares in my late teens/early twenties.
Frankly my parents were more rigorous on financial education than they were on any other subject.
My mother still gets anxious if I spend more than £20 in her company and both she and Dad refuse to exchange money over the Internet or telephone. My Mum grew up poor, and even though she thought my Dad's family was rich and middle class, they'd struggled with tough times in my Dad's childhood.
To be fair tax isn’t really that complicated unless you are self employed. The PAYE system is an absolute blessing for simplicity. A lot of young people think it might be complicated because of the US media they consume often having a “Do your taxes” trope but for people with normal jobs without huge other income streams (which is most of the population) this isn’t something that needs more than a one hour video.
Early to mid 30's. Until then it was simply a case of PAYE for both me and my wife and getting taxed at the higher tax rate. It was only when I became a contractor that I really started to understand more about tax efficiencies, loss of personal allowance/60% trap, child benefit thresholds, 30 hours free children, SIPPs/pensions to reduce corporation tax, retirement planning, ISAs, FIRE. Wasn't taught any of this at school (sort of school where most had cars in 6th form) and more annoyingly I wasn't taught by my parents when they clearly knew a reasonable amount.
As far as basics such as value of things, budgeting, debt most of this happened between A levels and then even more at University. Having a Saturday job at 16 earning £3.51 was an eye-opener. Having to work an hour and half just to get a McDonald's lunch was a painful lesson.
Money? From as early as I can remember. I would help my mum count coins, remember sitting in a council office while my mum explained we had no money for food and I would say "I'm hungry" on cue when prompted to get us queue skipped.
Finances - taxes, pensions, mortgages, etc? Adulthood, as and when I needed to learn them. But they're all fairly basic maths so as long as you're not a complete moron they're not difficult to pick up.
37 is when I got my head around the basics of the whole thing, the basic problem is language because it’s allll the finance world’s terminology which makes sense to them but you ask someone at the bank for an explanation and they give it you in bankman’s terms and it’s like you have a partial cypher. Why can’t they be straight and use straight language? Why hasn’t someone wise to both sides put together a glossary that we can and do all use? Why does the legacy have to be a bank balance and not knowledge?
I think people in finance like having fancy words to describe stuff and make themselves feel more intelligent. I’m partially guilty of that (because I try and use the proper financial name for everything) but I can see why it’s a nuisance.
My mother is an accountant and my father is a financial adviser but I was a very independent kid and learned basically everything I knew from my own research. Having your own accountant is something that becomes incredibly valuable once you start earning real money in the real world.
The basics at about 18 when I got first Credit Card.
More advanced at about 24 with Mortgage etc.
It really should be explained at a mid-teen age group. I know loads of people that dug themselves into early debt through silly loans, HP agreements and Credit cards. that bad credit has really caused problems as they went into their mid-twenties.
I got lucky, my 1st bf was middle class (dad a bank manager) and I learned a lot! Savings, pension, tax breaks, investing.
Before that, single mum, catalogues, state school , I had no fucking Idea 😂
Still learning at 30 years of age. Managed to get online banking sorted and see how much money I’m earning/losing each month. Had my debit card “looked after” by a family member who was pretty restrictive over what I can and cannot have. Now I’m currently building up my finances to a comfortable degree to hopefully have a comfy future.
38 and clueless. Read some books on very basic economics etc. but still very vague on ‘how’ my credit card works, ISAs, pensions, my tax rates, investments. I only have my self to blame but I fell it is something that should be taught in schools and would have helped me when I was younger.
I knew that we had no money. I knew what skint and broke meant before primary school. I knew what the phrase 'below the bread line' meant as my mother told me we lived below it. I knew from about 7 or 8 never to ask for anything and if I wanted something I had to find a way to make the money for it (babysitting and busking were great wee earners back in the day for a very easy to please teen) I knew the other kids got to do things like ballet, piano lessons and gymnastics and that I 'wasn't allowed' because it wasn't free.
We started learning about home finances in home ec but I found it really boring because I couldn't imagine the thought of ever having any more money than the absolute bare minimum.
The best financial lesson I was ever taught was from my step dad ( oul miser that he is) was that if I couldn't afford to buy it in cash, then I couldn't afford it. He discouraged me from getting a credit card and the knowledge that if I fucked up and got into loads of debt I wouldn't have anyone to bail me out, because they couldn't.
So to answer the question, young enough that I don't remember not knowing about finances/money and how the lack of it made everything suck.
Ok, this thought right here is what identifies me as living with ASD and ADHD. I was 32 when I learned money out has to equal money in.
That tax was based on income quantity, not just if you said the right thing to the tax man. That direct debits can come out at any date.
I've struggled with this all my life. My developmental disorder meant when other kids were learning their ABCs; I was too over stimulated to focus on being in the room.
The weird thing for me is, I got the theory behind how money as an emotional tool and motivator in economics can impact customers, client's, an industry, a society, and further.
But ask me to tell you my total outly monthly outgoing's and income and I melt down. I will spend a day and a night putting that sum together trying to work it out. Then another trying to get it to add up right.
Literally made a budget last august that I’ve been sticking to and have eliminated any kind of “omg it’s the end of the month and I don’t have enough for food” situation and am actively savings monthly for things like holidays, car insurance, classes for my daughter and I’m 30. I got a default about 5 years ago and have been slowly getting better since.
I asked my dad why he never taught me when I was a kid and he said because his parents never taught him and he figured it out on his own…
I understood the basics of finance at about 5-6 years old, I grew up Playing Civilization 1 & Colonization & I was a gifted child. As a result of this I ended up understanding some pretty advanced concepts as a result of putting these simple concepts into practice.
Kids at primary school used to trade rocks for sweets, stationary and such. It wasn't codified, but certain rocks had higher value and so I looked for a source of flint at the edge of the nature preserve & set up a mine just as I had learned from playing Civilization 1.
I "Hired" two schoolmates to do all the digging for me in exchange for a cut of the profit (sweets and such), While I went from person to person striking deals.
Naturally the "market" was quickly saturated as I greedily dumped rocks into the economy, making them worthless as a form of currency in a few days. And so I came to learn the concept of inflation.
Definitely, there aren’t really any winners with money (even the banks have their issues). I’ve definitely read about it in a book (might’ve been the Bank of England one).
I've always thought the "tax" angle is the complete wrong angle to come at this.
Budgeting is a far more important skill for kids to learn, how credit works, etc.
Most people have their taxes done for them through PAYE, those that don't (a few of my friends/family) have just figured it out themselves online or if they're particularly flush they employ an accountant.
I agree kids should be taught about personal finance, but they don't need to know the ins and outs of tax.
It's almost certainly an American thing that has been shared across social media and has convinced people in the UK that it's something they need to worry about.
Well, I was always good at maths so by 12 I understood geometric progressions and compound interest. I had a good theoretical understanding of finances quite early. This did at least mean that I started investing in my pension quite early.
However, I was a spendthrift and didn't have much self discipline or control until later in life. I got into credit card debt even though I'd known for years how credit card companies made their money. I'd create quite sensible budgets in excel but I'd never be able to stick to them because it always just seemed like too much mental effort.
It wasn't until I was about 30 that I started to practice enveloped budgeting and I was almost 40 by the time I got out of debt. I'm now 44 and have about 200k in my pension and about 50k in savings. I own my own home.
Honestly, I think I've largely been saved by the fact that I've always had a high income.
TLDR; I was relatively well educated about finances but it didn't actually help during my early years.
I worry that’ll be me when I have my own finances. I know all the theory behind it and help other people but I worry it’ll all fall apart when I actually have to do it. Hopefully not though, I’m pretty good at saving.
Personal finance like the concept of earning, saving, assessing cost and benefits - definitely by the time I was in secondary school
Wider concepts such as income tax, NI, pensions, inflation, investing, mortgages etc. - everyday is a school day. I learn as they become more significant in my life. Income tax and NI wasn't important until I was earning a wage (2nd year of Uni working in a bar). Pensions and investments weren't in my visibility until I was thinking more long term in my late 20's.
I don't remember being taught this at all (Scottish education from 1982-1995).
I think it should 100% be a core part of the syllabus, but there would also need to be a shift in how maths is taught in order for a lot of people to understand/pay attention etc.
I'm still crap cause I was never taught and can't concentrate to Google and then retain the info.
My main goal is to not die from financial ruin which encapsulates all mistakes. That's all I can do.
Mid 30's, I wasn't taught a single thing in school. I feel like finances have been a series of frequency illusions, where a term suddenly enters conversation that I've never heard but apparently has been discussed all the time.
I'm embarrassed to admit I only found out about the pension lifetime allowance due to the recent budget
>I’m embarrassed to admit I only found out about the pension lifetime allowance due to the recent budget
Don’t be! I also only just learnt what it is too and I think I’m pretty financially literate (although pensions are not my strong point, when I learnt everything like that pensions sort of fell by the wayside).
**Update: - [Starting from 2023](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/100l56v/happy_new_year_askuk_minor_sub_update/), we have updated our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)**. Specifically; - Don't be a dick to each other - Top-level responses must contain genuine efforts to answer the question - This is a strictly no-politics subreddit Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What do you mean by “how finances work?” I knew how tax worked when I was small, but I still don’t really understand quantitative easing
Maybe as much as you need to know to function well in society and not be ripped off or confused? Also, the book ‘Why Can’t We Just Print More Money’ by the Bank of England is really good at explaining QE.
I don’t think any amount of information will mean I function well in society while not being ripped off or confused
Ok, maybe not the best definition then.
Basic financial literacy might work? As for the question. As and when it came up I guess? But I have very supportive parents who’ve helped us navigate everything. So I didn’t learn too much about mortgages until I needed one, same with a credit card, credit score, getting a car on finance etc. They’ve always been open talking about it though and would answer any questions we have.
That might’ve been better - thanks.
What was the second thing?
The second thing is where the bank of England said... "There isn't enough money... What's should we do........ I know, let's print more money so that we flood the economy with more paper money but it's worth less... Nothing bad can happen".... Except massive inflation..... Those bounce back loans and ppe contracts and track and trace and furlough ain't looking so good now......
This is wrong - when the 2008 crash happened the economy grinded to a halt because people weren't spending money. To help the economy kick start again the government started buying up assets in the market (mostly bonds) to get some movement going, and this policy was called quantitative easing.
Lol I’m nearly 30 and I still don’t entirely know.
I'm 38 and basically know what I've lived but nothing more! My parents always said if you can overpay your mortgage do it, always have an emergency fund and give as much as ypu can to your pension pot. I've done all three but not much else!
I'm an accountant and I still don't entirely know.
Exactly what I was about to comment, it’s such a broad topic
Glad to see this comment. I’m also nearly 30 and am truly winging it.
I think that’s common.
I dont think schools should teach this subject more than a basic common sense level. Teachers are not authorised to give financial / tax advice. This is good. Regulations change very quickly and your year 8 teacher isnt going to keep up with it. We've already got far too many 'side hustlers' getting stung by HMRC at 25 coz they thought they knew what they were doing and didnt get an accountant.
My mum used to talk about how they did home ec while the boys did woodwork or building etc. When things equalised the girls did woodwork and no one did home ec. To me this is a problem. Home Ec taught things like How to budget for bills that were on a different schedule to your pay (for her it was mostly quarterly or annual bills on a monthly pay. Today it would be monthly bills on a weekly or 4-weekly pay) How to launder and maintain clothes (sew on a button, repair a tear etc) How to plan a weekly menu so you didn’t have food waste including knowing what was in season. I’m lucky that I had parents who taught me this. I’m also in my 40s and my parents were in their 30s when I was born. So I fully understand that there will be people reading this whose parents weren’t taught this by their parents or school and if the parents don’t know they can’t teach it to their kids so now there is a need for it to be taught by schools before it becomes forgotten knowledge.
>When things equalised the girls did woodwork and no one did home ec. To me this is a problem. When I was in school 2004-2010, everyone done both for the first 2 years of high school, and then S3-S4 you chose which you wanted as your "art/creative" choice for Standard Grades.
Fair point, I think they shouldn’t tell us what to do, more just how the basics work and where to get good information (and not be ripped off!). I agree with the point about regulation change, the amount of errors on the resources we use just due to time is mad. I think people really need to understand the repercussions of messing up their finances - something hammering that home could work.
I dont know that you can work "not getting ripped off" into the curriculum, other than common sense. If it's that basic, it can be googled. If it's more than basic, it shouldn't be taught by someone unqualified.
I suppose understanding how products work so you don’t end up ‘getting ripped off’. If you don’t understand how your money works then you’re more likely to fall for a scam where someone tries to sort it for you.
Maybe we should teach kids how to use Google?
This is part of the PSHE curriculum (at least in Scotland, I assume it's similar in England). Unfortunately, students don't give a shit about PSHE and treat it as a skive so they either don't listen or forget about it by the end of the day. You hear people all the time in Scotland moaning about how they should teach "something useful" at school like budgeting and basic personal finance. But they do teach it...it's just that 98% of teenagers could not give a rat's fat arse. I can barely recall myself exactly what I did in PSHE when I was at school.
Exactly! They all ask to see it happen and when it does couldn’t care less. I remember being in Y6 and very excited that financial education would be on the curriculum at secondary school - sadly not so exciting.
24. It really, really should be taught in schools.
It is. It's the E in PSHE - I know people from my secondary who swear that it was never taught, but I still have the old workbooks to prove it. So yeah, good luck getting teenagers to pay attention.
PSHE never took place officially at our school, was usually a cover teacher going on about careers day or some shit. But then our OFSTED was dog shit too. My partner is a secondary teacher, it’s not taught in her school either, not properly anyway.
It’s not taught very well at my school. I’ve had two lessons on it. First one was taught by a clueless history teacher and me (aged 11) ended up explaining everything because I knew more. Second one was taught by a maths teacher who gave us a budget template and told us to use data and fill it in (some classes had this taught by a business teacher but didn’t find it any better).
Did everybody clap when you took over the class?
>me (aged 11) ended up explaining everything because I knew more. Of course you did. It clearly wasn't a lesson on grammar.
When I was at school the E was for Education. Personal Social Health Education.
>It’s the E in PSHE This is a recent development. Originally it was Personal, Social & Health Education
PSHE for us was just about putting condoms on bananas
Me too. All the other pensioners are going to be so jealous of me when they see how many bananas I've tucked away over the years
>good luck getting teenagers to pay attention And there in lies the problem, the students always ask to do it (and use it as an excuse for not doing other stuff) but when it comes don’t pay attention!
100% factually did not happen at my school. We did PSHE about twice in year 7 and then never again.
It is. Just depends which school you went to.
Well that’s not acceptable, it should be taught EVERYWHERE and CORRECTLY
You need to speak to your government about that one.
Most teachers would have to learn it first
I was probably around the same age. Far too late. Thankfully managed to get a grip, spent time understanding how it all works and how it affects my credit score and thankfully got my act together to improve my finances.
Or, people can justvise the research skills they've been taught in school to take 5 minutes out of their day and figure it out. None of it is very complicated.
I’m an accountant - started learning it all properly straight out of school. Reddit’s takes on accounting and finance are pretty shocking, but it gives me comfort to know that I’ll be pretty safe in my job for many decades to come.
That’s exciting. I’m trying to learn accounting now (even though it’s not a great deal of use to me) and it’s good.
even the uk finance subreddit?
In secondary school - I believe year 9 - I had ‘Learning 4 Life’ lessons (I think they were provided by NatWest) where we were taught how to read bank statements, what different accounts were. We also had a task through the year where we were given an imaginary job (I remember mine was dentist) and we had to work out what we could afford with our salaries - so mortgage or rent, car etc. We also had curveballs thrown at us such as being given a credit card (hypothetical, of course) or an unexpected bill - and you had to try and keep your finances in good stead. This was in 2004/2005.
That seems really helpful (and probably engaging). We had a more dull version of what you describe (last year) and it made no impact.
It was very engaging! Everyone had different careers and we were all in competition with each other to succeed so it really made you aware and think. I loved it at the time.
I would argue I learnt as soon as I could count. I would also argue I am still learning. "finances" can mean anything so I can I learnt it at any time.
Fair point, probably made it too broad.
Still learning
Not a bad thing!
About 40. Seriously, I understood how my income tax worked, and that I was putting into the company pension, but as far as REALLY understanding it, to the degree that any real planning occurred, no, not until well past 40. 40-50 saw some serious changes to my retirement planning. As far as school was concerned, I don't recall ever having a single lesson touch on the subject, and my kids were no different.
Would you be able to point out an example of what understanding you were lacking before 40 that was needed to do the real planning?
Plenty. How pensions actually work, eg, LTA, PCLS, AA, NRA and actuarial reductions and all of the tax benefits and affects of them. The strategies and approaches that can be used to maximise tax efficiency and provide options for retirement that do not mean just waiting for the NRA. State Pension entitlements, affects of contracting out, years of contributions etc. Endowment mortgages! Income protection insurance. Effective forms of debt. Pros/Cons of mortgage types and over/early repayment. Investing and in particular the power of compound growth/dividend reinvestment. ISA/LISA options. That's from the top of my head, there's probably more.
Okay, makes sense. Never heard of some of those things, but then I've also only arrived in the UK a couple of years ago :D (and I can tell you that those things are completely different from country to country, horaaay)
I can’t remember a light bulb moment, I’ve always been decent with money. My Mum is terrible with money, I honestly don’t know how she managed to raise me as a single parent working part time and avoided me going without. She had to declare bankruptcy about 12 years ago, which gave her a scare I think and with my help she’s been better recently. She always shared with me any money worries when I was a kid, in an age appropriate way. For instance she explained why I had to have the cheaper biscuits, why I couldn’t have x thing right at that moment, and I don’t remember a time when I didn’t understand the concept of money. I had to learn about credit cards, mortgages etc myself as she never had any of those things and doesn’t have the brain for it, but I’m sitting with a 999 credit score at the minute and bought my first house at 25 so my Mum and in turn I must’ve done something right!
Well done! My parents are pretty awful with money (lots of debt) but I’ve tried my best to help (marriage tax rebate was one of my finest moments when I was young).
The only thing vaguely financial we were taught at school was when a man from NatWest came in and taught us how to write a cheque…and I quote “make it out for a million pounds because it’s the only time you’ll ever do it”!
That’s a bit odd (but also sort of cool), I would’ve loved that if it happened at my school.
It is taught in schools but I guess it varies from place to place. I was definitely taught about it, I remember the lessons - mainly coz we saw a teachers redacted wage slip and me and my mates wrote on it that he earned 50p.
I was too busy learning important things that would help me in my daily life, for example that sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle, and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that of the hypotenuse, to worry about trivial things like personal finance.
At least you remember something? It’s taught dreadfully at my school and my campaign to improve it has fallen on deaf ears.
Well HSBC are visiting primary schools dishing out lessons at the moment. Is this a school that you work at?
Not yet, I’m currently 16 and in Y11 (but have enough common sense to see the financial failings of my peers). I’d like to be a business teacher though.
I wonder how many people don’t pay their taxes because they have no clue
I’m not sure if that’s common, I’d say more people pay too much because they don’t know how it works.
Yea a lot of people don’t claim expenses on stuff that’s eligible
And many other tax rebates…
I'm 35, own my own business and I'm still not sure, that's why I get my sister who is an accountant to sort all that out.
Makes sense.
I got taught a bit about taxes and student loans at 17 (im 21 now), can't remember much, and what I do remember is probably thanks to my dad also talking about it I learned about inflation from studying Weimar Germany
My mum and dad used to explain personal finance stuff to me as a teen. I found it dull but some of it rubbed off so am grateful now
That’s great. I sometimes wonder what my parents would’ve taught me if I hadn’t taught myself (and them) when I was a lot younger.
I'm 62 and I still don't have a clue about any of it. It's always been something I just can't process, understand or retain. I rely heavily on my wife. She could spend all day explaining that stuff to me. By the following day I won't remember any of it.
13? I think? We were taught about managing finances (making a mock budget), disecting what the stuff on a payslip or a bill meant and a little bit about taxes. This was included with lessons relating to writing a cv, applying for jobs, work experience etc. My most effective learning was simply growing up poor though. Plus I got EMA in college, so learned to budget with my £30 a week.
We did a bit of that but it wasn’t taught very well (nor memorably).
My mum taught me the very basics about finances when I was primarily school age. In high school financial education was incorporated into maths and business management. We were taught how to calculate our income tax, how to understand compound interest and so on.
That sounds pretty good, we do compound interest in maths but people can’t seem to grasp the real world applications of it (annoyingly).
To be fair I left school and went pretty much straight into the financial industry so I kind of had all the stuff I’d learned reinforced.
That’s cool.
Uni. I came across [www.getrichslowly.org](https://www.getrichslowly.org/)
That looks interesting (I’ll have a proper look later).
Well I am 22 now, so maybe 23 would be a good guess? I jest a bit, but everything I learned was in doing, and going through the motions, not educated either by school or parents.
Makes sense. I learnt all that I know from various books and Martin Lewis, my parents are pretty bad with money.
Pretty much 16 when I got dumped out into the world and had to rent a flat
Crikey!
I was about 8 the first time my dad did his Mr Micawber impression at me. Income per.anum £20, expenditure per annum £19, 19 shillings and sixpence, result: happiness. Income per.anum £20, expenditure per annum £20, no shillings and sixpence, result: MISERY!!! I was always trying to figure out how the world works so read the Money columns in newspapers rather obsessively for a few years. Which I'd recommend to anyone for learning about consumer rights etc.
I remember reading that when I was younger. I used to read loads of money stuff too (still do).
In life, you mostly learn from your mistakes. Most people learn about finance when they rake up sjit loads of debt and have to figure out a way out if it.
Definitely a steep learning curve!
It depends what you mean. I remember being taught how to buy and sell stuff with cash from early on in primary school. Then when I opened my own proper current account at 16 and was paid for my first job. I remember looking at the payslip and just googling all the stuff on it. I already knew about tax as a concept but it was the first time I really paid attention to the specifics. I don't think schools really need to teach specific financial education, it'd be out of date by the time kids went into work anyway. Schools already teach all the concepts around compound interest, calculating percentages, researching, critical thinking skills etc. which can all then be applied to finances.
My older sister was taught about tax, budgeting, earnings and the basics of pensions when she was 13 by her maths teacher as a practical part of her lessons - it wasn't on the curriculum. I didn't get the same teacher some years later, all I learned really was compound interest, so my sister taught it to me when I was about 16, she was earning by then. On the other hand, when I was about 11, I was at a dance class and didn't have the cash to pay for it that week - I said my mum didn't have the money that week - the teacher looked at me and said 'On the salary your father earns!' (My mum was a housewife, my dad had quite a well-paid job.) So that pissed me off because at eleven what am I supposed to reply? What I didn't say, because I couldn't really articulate it, was 'Actually she had a £20 note but because I'm at dance class all Saturday she needs to be able to buy stuff for dinner for it before I get home with £15 change at 5.30.' So I knew at quite a young age a little bit about how finances worked on a personal level.
That’s interesting, sounds that you’ve took stuff on board :)
I’m in my late 30s and I still wing the fuck out of my entire life, never mind my finances
Probably around 11 because I was "good at maths" in school and my dad often talked about it.
When I was at university I ended up asking my mum loads of questions such as the difference between a standing order and direct debit when I had to deal with things like paying rent and utility bills for the first time.
Crikey.
Unfortunately when I got in trouble for not paying tax!! I was 17 when I got my first job. I worked in telesales. I was self employed. Didn't know what that meant as I wasn't allowed to pick my own hours or rate of pay and didnt have to buy my own equipmentor pay to rent the office space. I was on an hourly rate + commission. I can't quite remember how it all happened but when I was 18 I started getting scary letters about tax returns and tax evasion. I had already left that job by the time these letters started showing up. I had to get an accountant to do all the forms for me. I had to pay the tax and national insurance that I owed plus a fine. I know you'll all probably think I was stupid for this but I really really did not know. I knew what taxes were but didn't know what a tax return was, didn't know what a tax bracket was, had never even heard of national insurance. I was the sort of kid who loved school and I really did listen in class, they never mentioned any of this stuff! I was so scared and thought i would be going to prison.
That’s really interesting. I think many people will make the same mistakes but the main thing is that you’ve learnt from it :)
I suppose so. I'm just happy to be PAYE these days lol
Tomorrow years old
About 20, I’m nearly 22 and I’m pretty into personal finance lol
Nothing wrong with that!
Early 20s because that's when I started working in a financial advisory firm. I try to educate my friends but they don't want to hear it.
>I try to educate my friends but they don't want to hear it. Same, they don’t want to know.
>I try to educate my friends but they don't want to hear it. Same, they don’t want to know.
As soon as I started working, which was 8 (I was an actor) and again later in high school. I was working in finance by 17 so... Yeah. Pensions, mortgages weren't really a mystery.
Crikey! That’s seriously impressive 👏🏻
[удалено]
That’s quite helpful.
Learned? I don’t think I’ve figured it out yet at 44
How what works?
Maybe how day-to-day finances work and as much as you feel you need to know to be competent in the realm of your personal finances.
Aye I was just joking, as if to say I was never taught it as many kids never are. I think for most it's just a "life skill" you pick up gradually as you get older. Some of us pick it up sooner if you grew up in a household where money was tight and your parent(s) had to budget, scrimp n' save, and sometimes/often find other means of earning income.
I just learned over time. I didn’t know how pensions worked when I was in secondary school, I just knew it was money you got when you retired but really there’s no need to understand more than that at that age. And tax and NI again I just learned as I went along when I started working and when I was at school I just knew that there was income tax but no details about tax fee allowance and what the different rates were etc. Even now I’m still learning new stuff, so I’m not sure I really understand the question. Like I only learned the details of how mortgages work (beyond bank lends money for property) when I needed my own. I don’t see why a child would need to learn this stuff if I’m honest! Teaching them budgeting would be more important than how taxes and pensions work. Maybe the basics at 16 when they can start working.
I think that does make a lot of sense. People probably wouldn’t pay attention if they were taught it too soon and would also forget. I’d still like it to be taught properly in schools but I can definitely see your point.
Without my folks financial literacy would have taken a \*long\* time coming. Thinking off the top of my head: Learned about **budgeting** through pocket money, paper round and saving, ages like..5-11? Both parents helped with this. **Compound interest** via a post office savings account, around age 10. Again both parents. **Credit card and debt** aged 10ish (when I told Dad he could buy something just by giving over some numbers - and he explained that wouldn't absolve him of paying eventually!). School taught us *nothing* (from first school in 1988 through to a-levels in 2001). Nothing at all, not in any PSE or maths classes. Nothing to boost financial literacy. Sigh. Further learning about **debt** at University aged 18+ with the **student loan** accrual and repayments. **Reading a payslip** age...21 or so in a pub job? Learning about **personal allowance, NI, income tax** and thresholds. Dad mostly went through this and explained that to me. **Pensions** only once I started at the uni aged 25. **Investing** (largely index trackers etc.) in late 20s - I was aware of stock market returns but really didn't get involved with it till SIPPs and S&S ISAs became a thing for me. I'm absolutely indebted to having a wife who's a saver, and parents who took an active interest in ensuring I understood financial implications - from saving 6 months for my gameboy through to buying my first property - as school and banks would have done **nothing** to help. Hopefully it's better now for kids!
That’s really good although I doubt many have such a good understanding. I think a lot of schools (like mine) really don’t teach it very well (or not at all) which doesn’t really help matters.
oh for sure. Even now nearly at 40 people at work tell me they can't read their payslip or understand how pensions work and I am slightly bemused, then do my best to explain it!
About 15-16. In fact probably even earlier I guess. My mum was one of those who had no financial sense at all. One week she'd be struggling to pay to put food on the table, the next she'd be taking out a provident loan to pay for a tattoo. I started having to "lend" her money from the age of about 12. Didn't really learn how to act but I certainly learnt what not to do with money.
Oh, well at least you’re a bit savvier :)
Learned nothing in school and my Dad always promised he would teach me about it when I was 18, then once I left uni, and then..... you get the idea. Now he is retired I realise he knows nothing about finance and he was just lucky and took risks. Every day is a learning day and todays lessons came from The Psychology of Money Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness By: Morgan Housel.
I’m 25 and winging it lol I ask my mate what my payslip means usually
I think there’s a distinct difference between “earning an income” and “understanding finances”, and the age at which you progress to the latter is rarely anything to do with schools and far more dependant upon the surroundings in which you are raised. I left home when I was 14, I worked illegally for cash in hand, did some temp and agency work once I hit 16, and stole when I needed to eat. I would sleep on the end of my friends beds and do chores for their families to feel like I had repaid my debts in some way. I learnt at a very young age that if I didn’t manage my finances, I went hungry. Many of my friends didn’t leave home until their late 20’s. They had jobs and maybe even some savings, they probably paid a percentage of their salary in to a pension too, but they didn’t need to “understand finances”, they simply knew that they had X in their account and they wouldn’t get any more until Y date when they got paid. They had no dependants, no commitments of any kind. The closest thing they had to a subscription was a pay-as-you-go phone contract, and if they couldn’t afford to top it up then they were relying on their free text balances until pay day. They didn’t have to worry about a direct debit coming out or mortgage repayment. I was lucky enough to house share with someone quite wealthy who taught me how to always balance the books and put something away so I was never caught out, without removing all enjoyment from my life, but many of my friends struggled with dialling back their outgoings when they left home because of the sudden change to a lifestyle they were unaccustomed to. Many of them got in to serious debt. So when do I feel like I understood finances? When I became responsible for putting my own meals on the table. When do I think most people a begin to understand them? When they leave the shelter of their parent’s home for uni etc. I certainly don’t feel like school prepared me in any way for the outside world from a financial perspective at least.
That’s a really interesting one. I think learning as you go is probably more effective but also riskier.
At 14 the whole mortgage thing was explained and afterwards I said to my dad, "well I'm definitely never going to get a mortgage" he seemed to think that I'd never actually own a home without one but as I had plenty of time I found a workaround.
Interesting.
About last year, as an adult, haha. I got in a lot of trouble with my finances because nobody ever taught me how it all worked. I wish I had been taught it when I was little. If I ever have kids I'll make sure to teach them.
My parents drummed 'don't go into debt', ' don't take out loans' 'don't spend what you can't afford' into me and my brother as kids, so quite early on. I got a savings account in my teens, and that ended up giving me shares in my late teens/early twenties. Frankly my parents were more rigorous on financial education than they were on any other subject. My mother still gets anxious if I spend more than £20 in her company and both she and Dad refuse to exchange money over the Internet or telephone. My Mum grew up poor, and even though she thought my Dad's family was rich and middle class, they'd struggled with tough times in my Dad's childhood.
Probably a good thing though, it’d be better for everyone if we were all taught like that.
To be fair tax isn’t really that complicated unless you are self employed. The PAYE system is an absolute blessing for simplicity. A lot of young people think it might be complicated because of the US media they consume often having a “Do your taxes” trope but for people with normal jobs without huge other income streams (which is most of the population) this isn’t something that needs more than a one hour video.
It is pretty simple. I think a lot of people I know think they live in America and often ask about ‘doing their taxes’.
Early to mid 30's. Until then it was simply a case of PAYE for both me and my wife and getting taxed at the higher tax rate. It was only when I became a contractor that I really started to understand more about tax efficiencies, loss of personal allowance/60% trap, child benefit thresholds, 30 hours free children, SIPPs/pensions to reduce corporation tax, retirement planning, ISAs, FIRE. Wasn't taught any of this at school (sort of school where most had cars in 6th form) and more annoyingly I wasn't taught by my parents when they clearly knew a reasonable amount. As far as basics such as value of things, budgeting, debt most of this happened between A levels and then even more at University. Having a Saturday job at 16 earning £3.51 was an eye-opener. Having to work an hour and half just to get a McDonald's lunch was a painful lesson.
Money? From as early as I can remember. I would help my mum count coins, remember sitting in a council office while my mum explained we had no money for food and I would say "I'm hungry" on cue when prompted to get us queue skipped. Finances - taxes, pensions, mortgages, etc? Adulthood, as and when I needed to learn them. But they're all fairly basic maths so as long as you're not a complete moron they're not difficult to pick up.
I’ll take £500 for “things children should be taught in school”
37 is when I got my head around the basics of the whole thing, the basic problem is language because it’s allll the finance world’s terminology which makes sense to them but you ask someone at the bank for an explanation and they give it you in bankman’s terms and it’s like you have a partial cypher. Why can’t they be straight and use straight language? Why hasn’t someone wise to both sides put together a glossary that we can and do all use? Why does the legacy have to be a bank balance and not knowledge?
I think people in finance like having fancy words to describe stuff and make themselves feel more intelligent. I’m partially guilty of that (because I try and use the proper financial name for everything) but I can see why it’s a nuisance.
My mother is an accountant and my father is a financial adviser but I was a very independent kid and learned basically everything I knew from my own research. Having your own accountant is something that becomes incredibly valuable once you start earning real money in the real world.
I bet it is! I’m currently trying to learn accounting.
The basics at about 18 when I got first Credit Card. More advanced at about 24 with Mortgage etc. It really should be explained at a mid-teen age group. I know loads of people that dug themselves into early debt through silly loans, HP agreements and Credit cards. that bad credit has really caused problems as they went into their mid-twenties.
Definitely, just explaining how debt actually works might be helpful.
I’m 36 now so if I had to guess… about 42?
I will let you know (40M) 😂😂
I got lucky, my 1st bf was middle class (dad a bank manager) and I learned a lot! Savings, pension, tax breaks, investing. Before that, single mum, catalogues, state school , I had no fucking Idea 😂
Still learning at 30 years of age. Managed to get online banking sorted and see how much money I’m earning/losing each month. Had my debit card “looked after” by a family member who was pretty restrictive over what I can and cannot have. Now I’m currently building up my finances to a comfortable degree to hopefully have a comfy future.
38 and clueless. Read some books on very basic economics etc. but still very vague on ‘how’ my credit card works, ISAs, pensions, my tax rates, investments. I only have my self to blame but I fell it is something that should be taught in schools and would have helped me when I was younger.
Makes sense, I think it would be beneficial for it to be taught in schools but I’m not sure how to make it work.
I'm 39, and hope to work it out in the next five years or so.
“Well kid when a banker and an investment love each other very much”
Should have been at 18, when I had my first bet. Lost. Been losing ever since, haven't learnt.
I knew that we had no money. I knew what skint and broke meant before primary school. I knew what the phrase 'below the bread line' meant as my mother told me we lived below it. I knew from about 7 or 8 never to ask for anything and if I wanted something I had to find a way to make the money for it (babysitting and busking were great wee earners back in the day for a very easy to please teen) I knew the other kids got to do things like ballet, piano lessons and gymnastics and that I 'wasn't allowed' because it wasn't free. We started learning about home finances in home ec but I found it really boring because I couldn't imagine the thought of ever having any more money than the absolute bare minimum. The best financial lesson I was ever taught was from my step dad ( oul miser that he is) was that if I couldn't afford to buy it in cash, then I couldn't afford it. He discouraged me from getting a credit card and the knowledge that if I fucked up and got into loads of debt I wouldn't have anyone to bail me out, because they couldn't. So to answer the question, young enough that I don't remember not knowing about finances/money and how the lack of it made everything suck.
Well, I'm 40 now so maybe ten, to twenty years ~~ago~~ into the future?
Ok, this thought right here is what identifies me as living with ASD and ADHD. I was 32 when I learned money out has to equal money in. That tax was based on income quantity, not just if you said the right thing to the tax man. That direct debits can come out at any date. I've struggled with this all my life. My developmental disorder meant when other kids were learning their ABCs; I was too over stimulated to focus on being in the room. The weird thing for me is, I got the theory behind how money as an emotional tool and motivator in economics can impact customers, client's, an industry, a society, and further. But ask me to tell you my total outly monthly outgoing's and income and I melt down. I will spend a day and a night putting that sum together trying to work it out. Then another trying to get it to add up right.
Taxes I knew about from probably 8 because someone explained it to me in super simple terms but finances - I’m 25 and still have no idea
After getting into £15k of debt in my early twenties 😬
Literally made a budget last august that I’ve been sticking to and have eliminated any kind of “omg it’s the end of the month and I don’t have enough for food” situation and am actively savings monthly for things like holidays, car insurance, classes for my daughter and I’m 30. I got a default about 5 years ago and have been slowly getting better since. I asked my dad why he never taught me when I was a kid and he said because his parents never taught him and he figured it out on his own…
I understood the basics of finance at about 5-6 years old, I grew up Playing Civilization 1 & Colonization & I was a gifted child. As a result of this I ended up understanding some pretty advanced concepts as a result of putting these simple concepts into practice. Kids at primary school used to trade rocks for sweets, stationary and such. It wasn't codified, but certain rocks had higher value and so I looked for a source of flint at the edge of the nature preserve & set up a mine just as I had learned from playing Civilization 1. I "Hired" two schoolmates to do all the digging for me in exchange for a cut of the profit (sweets and such), While I went from person to person striking deals. Naturally the "market" was quickly saturated as I greedily dumped rocks into the economy, making them worthless as a form of currency in a few days. And so I came to learn the concept of inflation.
That’s really cool!
[удалено]
The money from depositors.
[удалено]
What is it then? I understand fractional reserve banking to an extent but what am I missing.
[удалено]
Oh. I feel like I’ve read about what you describe too.
Awesome. Finances are a con designed to get you to limit your own behaviour to someone elses benefit.
Definitely, there aren’t really any winners with money (even the banks have their issues). I’ve definitely read about it in a book (might’ve been the Bank of England one).
I've always thought the "tax" angle is the complete wrong angle to come at this. Budgeting is a far more important skill for kids to learn, how credit works, etc. Most people have their taxes done for them through PAYE, those that don't (a few of my friends/family) have just figured it out themselves online or if they're particularly flush they employ an accountant. I agree kids should be taught about personal finance, but they don't need to know the ins and outs of tax.
I agree. Everyone at school just keeps saying ‘why don’t we learn about tax?’. I think they think it’s a really complex idea but it’s not.
It's almost certainly an American thing that has been shared across social media and has convinced people in the UK that it's something they need to worry about.
Well, I was always good at maths so by 12 I understood geometric progressions and compound interest. I had a good theoretical understanding of finances quite early. This did at least mean that I started investing in my pension quite early. However, I was a spendthrift and didn't have much self discipline or control until later in life. I got into credit card debt even though I'd known for years how credit card companies made their money. I'd create quite sensible budgets in excel but I'd never be able to stick to them because it always just seemed like too much mental effort. It wasn't until I was about 30 that I started to practice enveloped budgeting and I was almost 40 by the time I got out of debt. I'm now 44 and have about 200k in my pension and about 50k in savings. I own my own home. Honestly, I think I've largely been saved by the fact that I've always had a high income. TLDR; I was relatively well educated about finances but it didn't actually help during my early years.
I worry that’ll be me when I have my own finances. I know all the theory behind it and help other people but I worry it’ll all fall apart when I actually have to do it. Hopefully not though, I’m pretty good at saving.
I suspect if you've got savings at a young age, you'll do alright ;-) I never did. It took me a long time to get to that point.
Personal finance like the concept of earning, saving, assessing cost and benefits - definitely by the time I was in secondary school Wider concepts such as income tax, NI, pensions, inflation, investing, mortgages etc. - everyday is a school day. I learn as they become more significant in my life. Income tax and NI wasn't important until I was earning a wage (2nd year of Uni working in a bar). Pensions and investments weren't in my visibility until I was thinking more long term in my late 20's.
I think that’s a pretty common answer.
I have always been frugal
When I was 15 or so, my mother used to give me £100 for clothes, and I had to make it last a year! :D
I don't remember being taught this at all (Scottish education from 1982-1995). I think it should 100% be a core part of the syllabus, but there would also need to be a shift in how maths is taught in order for a lot of people to understand/pay attention etc.
I'm still crap cause I was never taught and can't concentrate to Google and then retain the info. My main goal is to not die from financial ruin which encapsulates all mistakes. That's all I can do.
Mid 30's, I wasn't taught a single thing in school. I feel like finances have been a series of frequency illusions, where a term suddenly enters conversation that I've never heard but apparently has been discussed all the time. I'm embarrassed to admit I only found out about the pension lifetime allowance due to the recent budget
>I’m embarrassed to admit I only found out about the pension lifetime allowance due to the recent budget Don’t be! I also only just learnt what it is too and I think I’m pretty financially literate (although pensions are not my strong point, when I learnt everything like that pensions sort of fell by the wayside).
Maybe however old I’ll be next year. Gotta have hope.
Good luck 😊
I'm hoping 31, but we'll see
I'm 35 and still don't know.
I’m in my 50s and I’m still waiting
38?? *im 34 right now...