How much education about money should kids receive? And where?

The other night, I was talking to a friend who also has a son in high school about our kids’ schedules. Her son had to stop taking Spanish because his school district requires students to take a class in personal finance.

On the one hand, I hated to see any American give up study of a foreign language for any reason. On the other hand, personal finance is a good thing for kids to learn.

Over the weekend, I finally watched ESPN Films 30 for 30: Broke, about the problems that professional athletes have with money. One of the key points in the story is that these people do not know how to handle money at all; one of the advisors interviewed suggested that colleges require scholarship athletes to take financial education because the leagues’ rookie orientation programs happen too late.

And, in fact, many colleges are offering more and more business skills and life skills classes, partly as a way to educate students about their financial aid obligations and partly to polish them for the job market. I hope that students leave my finance classes with at least an understanding of how much money the bank makes when they carry balances on their credit cards. Most students – most people – are only dimly aware of that. Even intelligent people. UIC has an entire medical school full of brilliant people who have never had a finance class, you know?

In my perfect world, everyone would take a year or two off between college and the workforce for a combination of national service and finishing school, where they would learn about money, public speaking, basic life skills like cooking and mending, and etiquette. It would make for wonderfully well-rounded citizens without diluting high school and college curricula. Of course, it will never happen.

Should it? What do you think?