Voices Ringing Blog /

Our last day in school last year was Friday, the 13th of March.  In my Personal Finance classes, we had recently learned about the value of saving for unexpected events.  I teach the students that a good amount of money to save for emergencies is three to six months of annual expenses.  That seemed like an unachievable goal for most of us, up to half of our annual income.  How would we save that?  How long would it take?  Why would we ever need that much money for an emergency?

As we continued through the months to the end of the school year, we all realized that this was not a one month and done event.  This was going to take a while.  We would not be able to start economic recovery until the pandemic slowed down and allowed us to go back to work and find financial stability again. 

The lesson of saving for unexpected events became all too real, even more than I would ever want them to experience.  I teach my students that under normal circumstances it can take as much as three to six months to replace a career job that will provide the income to allow us to continue to live in the ways we are accustomed.  They understood that, but for someone else.  

This was a life lesson that I’m betting will change their generation as they manage their own future wealth.  They had the unfortunate opportunity to witness the struggle so many Americans have experienced; but, true to fashion, our young people will take this lesson and learn from it.   They will value financial stability that will allow them to provide for themselves and their families.  This is the generation that will be prepared!