What School DID NOT Teach Me

Schools don’t teach the basics of adult life. Things we all need to deal with on a daily basis. I found it really difficult to transition from being a student to being a tax paying adult and how to juggle 3 jobs, taxes, debt, money and the expenses in life.

I had a really good chat with my daughter who is just finishing her secondary high school journey and moving into the workforce. We started spitballing some things that schools should have been teaching to get her ready for her transition into adult life.

This was really interesting and we had some similar thoughts about what should make this list.

What school didn’t teach you? Well, there’s a lot that could be taught but are schools ready to mix up how deliver education I don’t think so. At least not at right now. All these young people who have the world ahead of them are getting at times outdated irrelevant teachings from people who may or may not have done what they are teaching at one point in time.

Things change the world keeps spinning. What I did 4 years ago is going to be very different now. I really hope COVID-19 taught you about innovation, how to pivot and adjusting the way you learn heading into the future.

Ive spoken with my daughter about one of her passions and turning it into a business. She is really into creative writing and we explored the possibilities of her turning that passion into an online business. I don’t think she is ready to take that plunge yet. 

What Teachers Should Be Teaching Kids in School

1. How Money Works 💵

I strongly believe that schools should be teaching kids how money works and the importance of being on top of your own finances.

2. Bank Accounts — This flows on nicely from learning about money. Where should they keep their money? in a bank, under the mattress or in a bitcoin wallet. These now more than ever are very important.

2. How Tax Works 🧾

Understand all the types of income tax that affect your money. What a valuable life lesson for young people who will be joining the workforce. The worst thing you can do as a hard working community member is to find out while you worked hard and made good money you did not pay the tax man and now you actually OWE MONEY!

This happened to me so many times and it feels like crap. You bust your back to make a decent living and the tax people want their cut of your money. This is soul destroying if you don’t stay on top of it.

3. How Tax & Money Work Globally 🌎

Combining both points 1 & 2 makes sense to expand on teaching young people about how the rest of the world handles tax and money. What type of money is used in Europe or Thailand and how does currency conversion work. The expense of living in other countries verse Australia.

I find it amusing watching people in Bali struggle to currency convert on the fly. A smart traveller would have a conversion bible/guide somewhere handy at all times. Know your money and have the power to avoid bad purchases or jump in on great investments.

Knowing the different taxation policies in the popular countries would be great. I would also like to see modules taught on how earning money internationally should be handled and what needs to be documented for tax purposes.

This right here would have been very valuable for me early on working with people all over the world. If I do work for a business in Toronto and they pay me the Canadian rate for that job, what does that mean for me when the 💰💰 hits my bank account and what tax should I be paying or not have to pay. What is this mystical tax exclusion zone and how does it apply to people who work online who do business with people all over the world

What if I want to sell Ice to eskimos? do I need to pay tax? or is that ice selling money tax free? just make it super simple and people will do more international business.

4. Property 🏠

Understand the basics of how to buy property for investment purposes. Why buying property is a way to generate income and how best to make this a focus goal for the immediate future.

Teachers may not be the best to educate on this topic, why not bring in specialists who do this every day to educate on the pro’s and con’s of real estate. Buying a house is expensive and the average loan goes for 30 years, THAT IS A LONG TIME!

Teaching students some fundamentals around this would help shake up the housing market. It would also help

Side note – Imagine if people coming out of high school understood money and the housing market. The banks and finance brokers would be losing out on buckets of 💰💰💰 this might have a bigger impact on the economy than expected.

5. Starting an online business 💻

The number 1 thing I teach people in my training sessions is to take ideas and stress test them as startup businesses. Particularly starting a blog and taking it from there. I like to problem solve and create new opportunity. The age old saying about throwing stuff at a wall and seeing what sticks does apply here.

On a daily basis I have 3-6 NEW BUSINESS ideas that I can pursue. The reality is I do not have time to put these ideas through their paces. My good friend Gabriel has 200 times more start up ideas a day and he acts on 1 of these a day. He is also spread thin and can not give these ideas the effort the need to grow into something sustainable.

Young people are the future and they have something most successful business people do not have …..TIME. If startup was a module taught in the education process the world just might be using Tony Stark Ironman type technology right now.

I really think teachers would struggle teaching this because they may not have experienced it themselves.

Id like to see a class dedicated to exploring the types of online businesses people build.

• How they pick the industry category
• How they take the business to market
• How they project and maintain the business
• How to staff the business and when to expand
• How they build revenue streams into the business
• Looking at the growth potential

That in a class would be fascinating and I would say right now that I for one wouldn’t be caught skipping class if this was the type of learning material we had.

6. Types of investments 🏘️

Know the different types of investment opportunities available when they have some money. Imagine a world where your kids are planning how to manage their finances before they graduate.

I would love to see my daughter having knowledge about taking her savings and having the insight to invest in a money generating asset coming out of high school. That would be a really valuable finance lesson.

I chatted with my daughter about how to invest in teh future and one of my all time fave methods of buying websites and growing them. We spoke anout her buying a small established website that makes a couple hundreds bucks a month. We talked about taking a thousand dollers and buying a small site making about $50 month or so and buying that to keep as a money maker. The reality is this is new for her and so many others it can be hard to believe that websites can make money unless you live in that world.  

I cover my expenses involved in running this blog and how its more of an investment than an expense. Its not all rainbows and butterflies.

7. Debt Management 💳

Let’s face it not everyone has surplus money, there are people who are born into debt. Why don’t schools teach kids how to manage debt.

I had a bit of debt in my younger years because I didn’t understand credit cards, loans and interest enough to manage that. Funny that this might form a similar story for many people reading this. It took me a little bit of trial and error before I understood how it worked, gee if only I had a guide or mentor to help me navigate young adulthood.

Teaching kids how to manage debt makes so much sense. Rolling on from learning money, bank accounts and investments this is the natural next step. Educating on the impacts and makeup of credit and why the credit card is not a great idea no matter how attractive the deal is upfront.

If people were not in so much debt they would have more capital to build the startup business that they could pursue their passion. This would be like moving money away from the credit and loan companies and putting that money into other business that HELP BUILD the economy.

8. Stress Management 😤

This could play a huge part of helping the transition from student to adult. The stress of family, expectations, earning enough money, and just the daily grind of life all build stress.

There should be a stress level indicator test or chart or something that shows them the different levels of stress and what impact it has on your body or brain.

Today I handle stress very well, Water in a glass . I don’t let anything or anyone impact my day. My day will go as planned with slight deviations dependant on who or what I interact with.

Some stress management techniques that have helped me:

• Breathing
• Routine – Gym, walking, house chores
• Lately Jigsaw Puzzles
• Video games
• Writing content

9. Eat healthy & exercise daily 🥒

Make sure you are eating healthy, as a young adult nutrition is vital to the growth and development into a healthy adult. There is a very very basic overview of this in schools at the moment but not to a level where kids know 2 cans of Coke A Cola a day are bad and that swapping a Snickers bar for a apple is the better choice

I would really like to see a basic fitness routine laid out for the class so they can leave school and have a routine they can take with them everywhere they go.

I would also love to see a basic meal plan for them when they leave school and move into their college dorm or first apartment. This is one of those most basic things that you need, I know Im a terrible cook but I learned how to make healthy food the hard way.

This just makes so much sense to me to provide these young people with the life skill to know what meals to prepare when they are looking after themselves.

Extra: The Art of Being a Man 👨‍🏫

They could also do one for the ladies but being a man I think it’s something that is fading as we move further and further away from the 1900’s. The more I see the young men of today the more I shake my head in confusion. How did we go from building railway lines and roads to wearing shoulder sling purses and skinny jeans and not opening doors for women? I am bamboozled at times.

Not everyone has a father to pass on knowledge and teach them the art of being a man. Manners, attitude, hard work, trust and integrity the basics of being a great human being. The schools could take this on as a extension module to help educate in various life skills and good human traits as a basic preparation from school to workforce.

Thanks for reading and I hope this provoked some thought about what your kids are learning. This really opened my eyes to what I should be teaching my daughter myself because it wont be taught at school. I have shown her this blog and she gives me feedback often about topics I could write about and things she see’s in her world. If you enjoyed the blog please take a moment to like and share it :).

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