I will be 64 in November, 2025. I recently had a conversation with my 21-year old grandson and was shocked to find how little he knew, or even cared about finances, credit and debt. He will be graduating from college this year and it seems that his lack of financial knowledge is common among his friends. So, it made me curious as to how old we MyFICOans are getting. Are there any "youngsters" here...lol? I went to college what seems to be eons ago, and even then, I do not remember ever being taught anything related to daily living finances and managing debt responsibly. As a guess, I would say the average person here are in their 40's. How far away am I...lol?
I'm guessing you're not far off for the average. I am a bit startled by the lack of financial basics from the younger generation too. My daughters boyfriend is a classic example. Many others Ive spoken to as well. And although I'm in my late 50's, I can say I didn't have much, if any formal or informal financial guidance. Certainly wasn't even touched upon in school and little to no teachings at home. Something i've gone to great lengths to teach my Son and Daughter.
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I'll be 68 in a few weeks, and like many others, I had exactly zero instruction on credit and finance when I was young. Funny thing, I work in technology and am older than the parents (and some of the grand parents) of my co-workers; we discuss all manner of subjects on a daily basis, and I would say the current crop of sub-30 professionals I work with are very well informed regarding the world of finance.
Just this last Friday I was dreading needing to spend upwards of 10 hours in the United Club lounge in Las Vegas, however, I bumped into a young woman (30 years old) I'd met a few hours earlier at the convention, and her flight was late as well; the two of us spent the next 8 hours chatting, and what she knew of finance was beyond the pale. Of course I am now compelled to admit she is a forensic accountant who does due dillegence for Mergers & Acquisitions as well as setting up IPOs, so yeah, she is definitely an edge case.
I'm a Gen-Xer (not quite a Millenial) and I learned what NOT to do by watching my parents struggle. They struggled with debt all their life and never really conquered it. I was able to get through college debt free and have lived debt free all of my adult life. I am just recently getting into the credit world, not because I am needing to finance anything, but simply for the cash back game. MF has been the best tutor for me, and I have recently (like, the last 9 months or so) started to pass on what I am learning about credit to my children. Some are married, some in college, and some still at home, but I am helping them with the basics: freeze your credit reports, pay in full, only buy what you can afford, how to budget, wants vs.needs, etc. I am still learning, too.
@Kforce wrote:I am currently a few years into my 8th decade. (Math test for many)
Early school was lackluster as a financial education tool, even back when.
Took a personal interest while in college, and some good classes if you take them.
As @Creditwiser I have been pretty good at teaching my daughters.
I do feel our education system is not doing justice to our kids and financial classes should replace one of the other less important thing being taught.
Hmm ... about the time the Earth was formed? Aw, my Mother always told me she was 39 years old and for a long time I wondered? Figuring your age may take Quantum Computing or the new Math 
Need to add, a Man who lives in a "Glass House" ought not to throw stones! OK?
@TrapLine wrote:
@Kforce wrote:I am currently a few years into my 8th decade. (Math test for many)
Early school was lackluster as a financial education tool, even back when.
Took a personal interest while in college, and some good classes if you take them.
As @Creditwiser I have been pretty good at teaching my daughters.
I do feel our education system is not doing justice to our kids and financial classes should replace one of the other less important thing being taught.
Hmm ... about the time the Earth was formed? Aw, my Mother always told me she was 39 years old and for a long time I wondered? Figuring your age may take Quantum Computing or the new Math
Need to add, a Man who lives in a Glass House ought not to throw stones! OK?
There once was a king that loved thrones and collected them. He decided he wanted to put them on display. So he had a glass ceiling installed in his throne room and had his collection of thrones stored up there for all to see.
One day the ceiling broke and all the thrones came crashing down. The moral of the story is those that live under glass ceilings should not stow thrones.