Financial Education Has Momentum. Now Comes the Hard Part

Financial education is getting real attention. Policymakers, teachers, families and private companies are all pushing to prepare young people to make sound money decisions. The question I keep coming back to is whether kids learn what to do with money, not just how it works.

The progress is real

Thirty-nine states now require personal finance coursework to graduate from high school. Just a few years ago, in 2022, that number was 12. That shift gives more than 13 million students a structured look at budgeting, saving and borrowing before they're on their own.

Early wealth-building is getting attention too. Trump Accounts are a new type of tax-advantaged investment account for children. Eligible children born between 2025 and 2028 can receive a one-time $1,000 contribution, which gives families a built-in reason to talk about investing while a child is still young.

Where the gap shows up

Here's the thing: a course can explain compound growth in a week, but it can't teach a teenager how to feel about a dip in their account. That's where home comes in. A SIFMA Foundation survey, the Building Financial Futures study, found that nine in 10 parents think their children should learn to invest. Only two in 10 feel confident they can teach the basics themselves.

That confidence gap is less of a problem than it sounds. Parents don't need to be financial experts to start. Most of the useful lessons begin with ordinary conversation.

Conversations that cost nothing

Everyday moments are full of teaching material. A trip to the store can turn into a talk about wants versus needs, trade-offs and why prices land where they do. A favorite sneaker or snack can lead to a discussion about the company that makes it, and what it means to own a small piece of a business.

A simple prompt works well: "If someone gave you $50 today, what would you do with it?" There isn't a single right answer. The point is that the child starts thinking through choices, and that habit matters more than any one response.

Time is the idea to build around. Adults often assume kids will struggle with investing concepts, but young people already understand patience. They know a better athlete, musician or student is built through steady practice over months, not overnight. Parents can connect that experience to investing by praising patience when they see it. Small, consistent steps taken early tend to matter more over the years than big moves taken late.

Hands-on practice beats abstract lessons

Giving kids real experience with saving and investing turns abstract ideas into something they can picture. Compounding, diversification and long-term thinking are hard to grasp from a diagram. They're easier to understand when a child watches their own balance change over time.

This is also where Trump Accounts need careful explanation. Their value depends on a child understanding what's happening inside them: what it means to own investments, why markets rise and fall, and how time affects growth over decades. A parent who explains those things is doing more useful work than one who simply opens the account.

The rules matter just as much. Turning 18 doesn't turn the account into spending money. After the growth period ends, Trump Accounts generally follow traditional IRA rules. Taking money out early for expenses that don't qualify can bring penalties and tax consequences. Teaching a young person why long-term money may be worth leaving alone is a lesson in itself.

Free tools that make it less like homework

The SIFMA Foundation built Family InvestQuest, a free online experience that lets families explore these ideas together. It shows how starting early, saving steadily and letting earnings compound can help even modest amounts grow. Short videos cover financial concepts in a way that's easier for younger viewers to follow.

Parents can also use the kitchen table to ask open questions: Why does diversification matter? Why do markets sometimes fall? Why does starting early make such a difference? Nobody needs every answer. Learning how to look for reliable information, weigh different options and think about the long term is the skill that carries forward.

Keeping the momentum going

Support for young adults still has a long way to go. According to the Federal Reserve's 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, nearly half of adults ages 18 to 29 got help from someone outside their household to pay at least one expense in the past year. That's a reminder that many young people are making real money decisions right now.

So the next time a young person gets a first paycheck, birthday cash or an unexpected $50, ask what they plan to do with it. You may hear "new sneakers," and that's fine. What matters is that, over time, "save some" or "invest some" starts showing up in the answer too.

This perspective comes from a financial professional contributing to this piece, not from a newsroom. Before working with any adviser, it's worth checking their background. The SEC's adviser search and FINRA's BrokerCheck are free places to start.