Personal Finance Essay

Personal Finance

In this class I have learned all about life. Maybe that sounds silly to say, but it is true. Money controls everything these days so by learning about money and how to handle it I have learned more about life than I thought going into this course. I did not choose to take this class; the counselor chose it for me. I honestly came into this class just wanting to get it over with and earn my credits. But as the class progressed, I started to realize just how valuable the material is. You need money for pretty much every aspect of your life and there is no getting around that. I personally prefer to prepared for things rather than regretting it later when I face the consequences that a little preparation could have avoided. In this class, I found a few topics to stick out more than the others. Spending money, banking, and retirement are three things that pertain to my particular lifestyle, so these are the topics I have chosen to discuss.

Everyone does it, it is a fact of life. Spending money is how we have fun, survive, and stay comfortable. Whether it’s buying some popcorn or a movie, a down payment on a car, or paying an electric bill, we do it every day. As teenagers, or even young adults, sometimes we don’t realize the importance of spending money wisely. Maybe it’s skipping out on a Friday night on the town, or not buying that shirt because you don’t really need it, saving money is something you have to think about. College is expensive, as is living on your own. If everyone starts planning on these things ahead of time so there is a little bit of money saved up, life could be a lot simpler. But I think it takes more information and time spent thinking about the future and the pros and cons of saving and spending money for someone to want to change their ways and plan ahead. So I would recommend this class to all high school students and maybe even college students.

Typically you start banking yourself when you get your first job. You now have checks in your name to cash and save and spend. It’s very important to know the basics of banking and how it works. Honestly, when I started this course I had no idea about banking. I have a job but i typically just cashed my checks and kept the cash myself. I now have a student checking account and with the help of this class I looked into all the banks around me and chose what fit me best. I would not have known about deposits or credit

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