Yes, taking a finance class as a high school student is extremely worthwhile.
It can provide a diverse array of benefits that not only help teenagers prepare for a fascinating career but even improve their lives in various ways. Put simply, finance is the art and science of managing money and involves activities such as banking, lending, investing, and trading. It plays a crucial role in the functioning of individual households and global economies alike.
On a simpler level, though, finance is as basic as understanding personal budgeting skills, proper spending habits, and understanding how to build a nest egg through careful saving techniques. In modern times, many of these techniques somehow don’t get passed from generation to generation, leading to a pandemic of debt. Thankfully, the best finance courses for teenagers can help avoid this problem and prepare high schoolers to learn.
How Students Can Learn Finance in and Out of School
High school students who want to learn important finance-related skills have many potential training options that could work well for them. These include many courses covering important subjects like budgeting, investing, the stock market, etc. Here are just four different ways that students could learn in this environment:
- In-School Courses: These days, many high schools provide hands-on finance classes that help students build their skills. Designed to supplement their at-home learning, these programs will teach high schoolers financial literacy to help them plan for life.
- After-School Programs: Other schools may provide learning opportunities outside of normal hours. These include classes directly from the school or even private trainers. These courses make sense for teenagers who don’t mind a little extra work after class.
- Dual-Enrollment Classes: Teens who live near a college or university can take high-quality dual-enrollment courses that strengthen their knowledge and prepare them for college. They’re a smart investment for those who want to make good money.
- Bootcamps: In summer-style bootcamps, teenagers can cover critical finance-related skills, bolter their knowledge, and walk away confident with their abilities. It’s the kind of investment that can transform a teenager’s life in fascinating ways.
Subjects Covered In These Finance Programs for Teens
Before jumping into a finance training program, it’s smart for teens to understand what they’re getting into here. These classes are pretty comprehensive and include a broad range of different abilities split into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Just a few lessons that teenagers are likely to study during their in-depth finance training programs include:
- Beginner: At a beginner level, teens will learn about things like money and currency, saving and spending, budgeting, wants vs. needs, bank accounts, debit and credit cards, personal finance, setting goals, income and expenses, and income sources. When they’re done, they’ll take these skills into further courses and build on them.
- Intermediate: At this level, teens might learn about detailed budgeting techniques, compound interest, saving strategies, emergency funds, tax concepts, loans, interest rates, stock market basics, risk and return, and diversification. They may also learn about insurance, avoiding scams, and debt responsibility to become financial experts.
- Advanced: In later classes, teens will learn more about advanced financial planning, tax returns, debt reduction and management, estate planning, stock analysis, options and futures, macroeconomics, microeconomics, entrepreneurship, and the basics of starting a business. In this way, they should be more than ready to join a college.
Understanding Finance and Its Uses for High School Students
Finance is a broad field that encompasses various sectors. These might not seem interesting to high school students fascinated by YouTube and social media careers, but are critical to understand. Even teenagers who don’t want to join a finance career might find these fields important to know. Furthermore, those who are interested in a finance career need to know which market makes the most sense for them to join. These industries include:
- Banking: This skill involves managing funds, offering loans, and providing savings accounts. Teenagers can move beyond positions like bank tellers and managers and get into more fascinating and rewarding careers. This field is likely more rewarding for those who enjoy customer service or who don’t feel comfortable with riskier careers.
- Lending: Lending refers to the provision of funds by one party to another, often under strict terms regarding payment and interest rates. It’s a huge industry and one that includes jobs as diverse as lending officers and debt settlers. High school students who enjoy things like interest rates or who want to help others may enjoy this field.
- Investing: By learning investing, or the art of allocating resources, often money, with the expectation of generating an income or profit, teenagers put themselves in a great position to make good money. Whether they invest for themselves or work as an investment expert for their clients, the chance to build passive income is amazing.
- Trading: Trading is the buying and selling of stocks, bonds, commodities, or other instruments, typically in the pursuit of short-term profits. It’s also the riskiest finance career because choosing wrongly could wipe out thousands or even millions of dollars in minutes. It’s a career for teenagers who want the potential to make great money.
Benefits of Learning Finance for Teenagers
Learning finance offers multiple advantages, especially for high school students who not only want to avoid crippling debt but build an intelligent understanding of diverse financial subjects. In fact, many of these benefits go far beyond career prep to help students from all walks of life build better financial literacy and become happier and stronger people. Just a few of the most important of these fascinating and potent advantages include things like:
- Ease of Understanding: When taught well, finance concepts are intuitive and applicable to everyday life. For example, knowing how to use spreadsheets to create a budget isn’t as complex as it seems and can help teens better manage their money. They can then use these simple ideas to build up to more complex and fascinating skills.
- Budgeting Benefits: Understanding finance helps students manage personal budgets and make informed spending decisions. That’s critical today as debt spirals and takes over many people’s lives. People who know how to budget and plan can save money even if they don’t make six figures and live happier and more productive lives.
- Transferable Skills: Finance education fosters critical thinking, analytical skills, and numeracy, which are valuable in various fields. For example, teenagers who understand basic financial math may easily use it in unique and fascinating ways elsewhere in their lives. Just as importantly, they can use financial literacy in any career.
- Potential Careers: Proficiency in finance can lead to career opportunities in sectors such as financial planning, investment banking, accounting, and corporate finance. These high-earning and fascinating careers often provide a six-figure income and even include better jobs later in their career, such as stock market investors.
Finance-Related Skills Worth Learning for Teens
Alongside finance, gaining proficiency in the following areas can be particularly beneficial. These are typically related to finance or related fields and provide teenagers with the amazing opportunity to build a strong financial portfolio. While simply mastering these concepts through training doesn’t guarantee a high income, it certainly goes a long way towards getting there:
- Investing: This skill helps teenagers understand different types of investments that can help them manage personal wealth and prepare for future financial planning. Often, investing forms the backbone of basic financial literacy and helps teenagers build fascinating and rewarding careers that take their lives to the next level.
- Stock Trading: By learning stock trading skills, teenagers gain practical knowledge of financial markets and enhance decision-making skills under risk. Jumping into this field can be a little scary but very rewarding for those who master its unique techniques. Even a little day trading can be a fun and rewarding experience for many people.
- Cryptocurrency: Mastering cryptocurrency can help teens learn more about these emerging financial technologies, and digital currencies can position students at the forefront of modern financial innovations. Though cryptocurrency has a pretty volatile range of ups and downs, those who thrive in it do make great money.
Careers in Finance for High Schoolers
Finance skills can open doors to various rewarding careers, some of which were mentioned earlier. However, teens need to understand these jobs and their full scope before deciding on a training program. Doing so can ensure that they pick a career that feels right to them and helps them make good money while transitioning to even better jobs. Just a few paths that teenagers should consider before starting their training include:
- Financial Analyst: In this job role, teens will guide businesses and individuals in making investment decisions. For example, they might work directly with a business to help them understand the scope of their investment opportunities. They can even help them plan business expansions to slowly build on their properties and reach new customers.
- Accountant: As one of the core financial careers, accountants manage financial records and ensure accuracy and compliance with laws. They’ll track spending, earnings, and balance books to ensure that companies handle their money correctly. Often, this job includes advancement opportunities in management positions or other fields.
- Investment Banker: An Investment Banker helps companies and government agencies raise money in the capital markets, focusing heavily on things like stocks, bonds, options, and more. By slowly and carefully building a portfolio, investment bankers can help companies and individuals create a strong passive income stream.
- Financial Planner: As Financial Planners, teens will assist individuals in managing their finances and planning for their financial future. It differs from investment banking and finance analysis because it focuses more on individuals than companies. Think of these planners as personal finance coaches to get a feel for the benefits that they provide.
NextGen Bootcamp Courses in Finance For Teenagers
NextGen Bootcamp is a trusted training team with years of experience helping high school students learn important skills in a comfortable and enjoyable setting. Designed specifically for teens between 14 and 18, these classes are fast-paced, exciting, and taught by engaging teachers. Just as importantly, they help teens build a strong portfolio of work while only taking up one to three weeks of their summer vacation. Here are two classes they might enjoy.
Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program NYC
Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program NYC helps teens master concepts like Microsoft Excel, basic finance concepts, and even stock market investing. They’ll learn about important finance fundamentals, get cool and powerful stock market tips, and work directly with skilled professors who understand their learning styles. Teenagers outside the New York City region can also take Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program Live Online to learn these skills.
FinTech Summer Program NYC
FinTech Summer Program NYC covers important financial concepts like stock market investing, basic financial literacy, and Microsoft Excel but ties it into the technological side of this market. For example, teens learn how to use Python (a popular coding language) to create financial databases and much more. Outside of New York City, teens can take FinTech Summer Program Live Online to learn the same kind of fascinating and important lessons and skills.
College Programs in Finance Teens May Love
While there are no AP courses specifically for finance, many colleges offer comprehensive finance programs that build on the fundamentals learned in high school. College finance courses typically cover financial theory, financial markets and institutions, investments, and corporate finance, among others. Training classes can help teenagers prepare for these programs and make it easier for them to thrive in college and beyond by providing:
- Internship Opportunities: By getting internships, teenagers earn practical experience in finance-related positions. While many internships are unpaid, getting one while young helps them build experience in banking, lending, and other related fields. Employers look favorably on internships and will likely fast-track a teen’s resume if they have it.
- Networking: During these classes, teens will build connections with industry professionals. For example, their teachers are financial pros who can help them meet more people, strengthen their network, and become more skilled. Building on their skills in this way can help teenagers transform their careers and become more interesting people.
- Career Preparation: In these courses, teens will learn the skills and qualifications needed to enter and succeed in financial careers. Just as importantly, they’ll get the opportunity to build college-level skills that can help them skip earlier and less interesting classes. Even better, it helps them save money by significantly shortening their education.
Enrolling in a finance class as a high school student lays a solid foundation for personal financial management and opens up various career opportunities. It also prepares students for further education in finance, be it through college courses or more specialized training like that offered by NextGen Bootcamps. By carefully fine-tuning their skills in this way, teenagers can ensure that they get the best results possible for their unique training needs.