Comments on: Should Economic Stimulus Money Include Free Financial Advisors for the General Public?

By: * Weekly Highlights: February 13, 2009

* Weekly Highlights: February 13, 2009 — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:04:29 +0000

[...] Gibble’s advice and start cutting back on expenses, as well as adding new income streams.Should Economic Stimulus Money Include Free Financial Advisors for the General Public? at Generation X Finance — I don’t know if financial advisors for the general public is [...]

By: Sunday Money Roundup - Playing Guitar Edition. | My Two Dollars

Sunday Money Roundup - Playing Guitar Edition. | My Two Dollars — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:01:00 +0000

[...] X Finance asks if the Economic Stimulus Money Include Free Financial Advisors for the General Public?. I think this would be a great [...]

By: Pinyo

Pinyo — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:16:46 +0000

I don’t know if financial advisors for the general public is feasible, but I like the idea of teaching personal finance classes in high school. Also, it would be great if the could make financial products less confusing.

By: outlaw

outlaw — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:08:53 +0000

The best way to teach everyone is by starting out in the public school system. I think the federal government needs to make personal finance a prerequisite to graduate high school.

By: Shadox

Shadox — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:06:46 +0000

It’s not a bad idea to educate people about personal finance, but shouldn’t the school system be responsible for this?

By: thomas

thomas — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:03:58 +0000

adding this to the “stimulus” package makes as much sense as anything else in there.

Agreed that more people need to be educated on personal finance.

By: GE Miller

GE Miller — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:27:05 +0000

I think there are more inexpensive, efficient, and scalable ways to educate the public. The adviser/client relationship isn’t always geared towards education. How about everyone who receives economic stimulus benefits must pass a financial literacy test that is based on a book sent out to every taxpayer?

By: Bill Muhlenfeld

Bill Muhlenfeld — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:10:19 +0000

On the surface the idea sounds good, though I think it is probably too late for a lot of people. I would rather see
financial courses offered at the high school and college level and, yes, they should be mandatory.

By: the weakonomist

the weakonomist — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:36:10 +0000

NAPFA should back this bill. That is the National Association of Personal Finance Advisors. They are a fee only org. You can’t work on commission and be in their org.

Like the others though, no one would actually use it.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:20:24 +0000

First, $15 Billion doesn’t just sound like a lot, it really is a lot.

Second, the assumption that people who borrowed too much to buy too much house must have been lacking for professional advice and financial literacy flies in the face of reality. Five years ago just about every established expert was saying that houses were a sure thing.

David Bach’s The Automatic Millionaire (2004) says “you aren’t really in the game of building wealth until you own some real estate” and goes on to list names, phone numbers, and websites of outfits that can help you buy a house with little or no money down.

And Suze Orman, in her The Laws of Money, (2004) had a section enititled “Home Buying: One of the Best Known Investments.”

The point is, there was and is no shortage of personal financial advice and coaching out there. It’s just not very good.