7 Reasons Education Keeps You Poor

Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

If you want to be rich and successful, you need to go to college and get the most prestigious degree possible right? Well, whether this is true or not, the reality is that this advice has been disseminated to the masses and unfortunately these words of wisdom have not made as many people rich as one would imagine. But why is that?

Millions of students in the United States and across the world, have been sold the dream that if they study hard and get the right degree, they will land a job that will absolve them of all financial worries in life. In fact, this is the mentality I had not too long ago and after spending tens of thousands of dollars on my education I soon came to realize that while education has a purpose, it may not be the key to building true wealth. In fact, in many cases, formal education can hinder your financial progress and I believe to be true for the following seven reasons:

Reason #1: Education Doesn’t Improve Your Financial IQ

Take a moment to think about your experience through the education system. You probably took classes in math and science and while these subjects may have been relevant to your future career, one subject that for sure would provide value throughout the course of your life is financial education. Sadly, most students are never taught even the most basic financial principles like budgeting or the financial impact of taking on debt. In fact, the school system just assumes that you will naturally adopt these skills over the course of your life but this is simply not the case.

Take the example of highly skilled professions like medical doctors or lawyers. Sure, they know a whole lot about medicine or law but that doesn’t mean that they know anything about money. Even in my profession of accounting, there are many people I know that simply cannot figure out how to track their spending or manage their debt yet they can prepare financial reports for major businesses.

The reason most professionals lack this financial IQ is because school does not place any importance on money management skills. And the truth is that it doesn’t matter how many years of school you endure or how many degrees you acquire, until you put in the time and energy to learn how to manage your money you will always be…