Discover Card Infograph: High Schoolers and Money

Admittedly, I am kind of a sucker for an interesting infograph. I first got interested in some really great infographs thanks to Frugal Dad, prior to the site switching formats. We get sent a lot of other infographs from other sites, though they really have to strike a chord with me to want to republish them.

Discover Card recently promoted the below infograph put together by Pathway to Financial Success. Growing up, my parents were the ultimate factor is teaching my sister and I about properly managing our credit, savings, and spending. However, now that I have gotten older, I have really wished in high school there were classes that everyone had to take to teach everyone the basics of properly managing your money.

The high school years are a great point in life to educate the masses on the importance of making good financial decisions that will help shape the rest of your life. Once kids go off to college and are on their own, despite support from mom and dad back home, they can often get in the habit of overspending and racking up large credit card bills, all while the same time creating a massive amount of student loans.

Looking back, I really wish I fully appreciated the fact of being debt free at a young age. I saw college as something I will work and pay for later. I honestly had NO idea how much student loan debt I had until after I graduated. I had no plan other than to pay it off as fast as possible post education.

While there was nothing wrong with that plan, I wish I had possibly worked more while in school to help pay off some of those loans earlier.

So lets take a look at the infograph and how money and students mix together.

One of the fascinating aspects of this study was how talking about your finances has a positive impact on your life. I have been thinking about this a lot lately, from the aspect about why people think it is so taboo about talking about finances.

I say that from the aspect of this website. For example, I and most mile and point collectors look at the programs as a form of currency. The amount of miles you have sitting in your account is a good indication of how “rich” you are when it comes to being able to travel for “free.” Knowing we have 100,000, 250,000, or 500,000 in miles with a program means I can afford to fly my family to anywhere their hearts desire.

Most people have no problem telling you how many miles they have in their account. Yet you ask them how much money they make doing their job, and all of a sudden everyone hushes up.

I have long been toying with the idea of discussing on InACents the financial impacts of the site. While I can not say ABC credit card paid us this amount per referral, I see no problem in saying we earned X amount of dollars this month from Discover, American Express, etc. However, why stop there? Should I open up and lay it out how much we make at our jobs? Is it interesting to the readers, and would it provide any better reference or significance?

I have not answered that question for myself yet, but I have seen other sites do the same, and it provides some great insight into the workings of a successful brand and website.

For now, my wife and I know it is our duty to not only educate our children on the importance of good money management, but to also talk to anyone else willing to listen and learn.

Save Money, Travel More!

Source: Discover