Lack of General Financial Knowledge

It’s nobody’s fault. General knowledge like buying a house, a car, insurance, etc. and knowing and understanding all your real financial assets don’t come easy. Our public schools do very little to prepare you for real life. I’m not belittling the high school system. But when was the last time you saw a high school class entitled: How to purchase an automobile? What about: How to purchase a home? How to buy auto insurance? What’s the difference between Savings and Investing? Learning about your credit score? I didn’t think you had! But students do spend a lot of time learning about triangles and algebra — “real exciting stuff.”

In the real world, you’re expected to learn from your parents. Maybe you have to learn from the person who is selling these products and services to you. For many of you in custody, you didn’t have much in the way of parental guidance. Now you’re supposed to trust that person selling you your house or your car or whatever. Think about this, for most people, the biggest investment purchase for their entire life is purchasing a home.

Yet, we are expected to rely on the real estate salesperson who has a commission at stake for their objective advice? Nothing against real estate people. But you should have at least the basic knowledge in your pocket before dealing with these professionals. Doing this on complete faith and trust with some of these professionals is sometimes called “learning the hard way.” You are the one with the cash. The professional is supposed to be the one with the experience. But sometimes, at the end of some of these deals, the professionals are the ones with the cash. And you are the one with the experience.

Where Do You Find This Knowledge

In earlier blog posts, we discussed stress. Stress in dealing with financial issues can elevate to the point of disability. That stress is a real deal. So many people are faced with so many unknowns. It’s worth your while to use your time wisely in custody. Self educate, quietly to yourself on your rack. There are plenty of books written on financial subjects. If you are out on probation or parole, look into the Saddleback Church Financial Coaching/Workshops, or the GHE Publishing Website.

You want places that can provide useful objective financial information. Get all the information you can. Do your part and study the information to the best of your ability. Then have faith in the Lord. Trust God. He is here to provide. He wants to provide for all your needs. All you need to do is ask, and the best way to ask God for something is through prayer. But you need to put in the effort. You put in the effort, then cast your burden upon His shoulders and let God do the rest.