Assignment 4A - Fomring an Opportunity Belief

Assignment 4A – Forming an Opportunity Belief

            I believe there is an unmet need towards students’ lack of education regarding managing personal finances. Any student currently in high school and college, especially college, has this need since the focus in schools mainly to prepare students on for their possible future job. This need also applies to students whose parents have not had any personal finance education through, for example, a home economics class, or have parents who do not make good habitual financial decisions and are thus unconfident in teaching their child how to properly manage their own finances. I believe this need came from the gradual withdrawal of the home economics class from the school curriculum as well as the focus shifting from of teaching students how to manage personal life and preparing them for jobs to the sole focus of preparing students for their future job. If the home economics class or a varying form of the class is taught in schools, it is only taught as an elective and is not a requirement, creating a lack of a pressing need for students to learn about necessary life skills such as learning how to manage personal finances, which leads to ultimately better financial choices, saving more money, and less risk of falling into debt. I’m 80% sure that this opportunity exists.

#1: Female freshman undergraduate student

·       Do you think it’s important for people to learn how to manage their personal finances? Why?

o   Yes, because no matter who you are or what career you choose, you will have to budget your own money and/or the money of the company you work for. So, it goes to anyone, not just people who do finance.

·       Have you received any education about how to manage your money? If so, when and from whom?  Do you feel that the education you received was helpful?

o   I just learned at home from my parents, never in school. They taught me from a young age to save my money. And yes, because I still use the principles they taught me in college on my own.

·       How do you feel about your personal money management skills? Do you feel confident in them?

o   I feel confident in my personal money management skills because I have been using the skills for a long time and not just now that I am an adult. It’s because it’s been instilled in me for so long.

·       Do you ever worry about how well you’ll be able to manage your money in the future? If so, how often?

o   Because I’m unemployed, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what’s going to happen with my money, so in moments where I need money, but I don’t have a lot, I’m a lot more careful about where the money I have needs to go.

·       What do you think is the best way or the best resource for getting the best personal finance education? Would you ever go to that resource?

o   I don’t know of any outside resource that is credible enough for me to go to and trust for this education other than my parents.

·       Are you happy with your current resource for personal finance education?

o   Right now, I’m okay with just asking my parents questions, but I know when it comes to bigger things, like better credit and a mortgage on a house, I know I’m going to need more advanced experts to help me.

·       Which group do you think should have more responsibility of teaching students how to manage their personal finances: teachers or parents?

o   The students themselves should be able to find the resources themselves. If their parents or teachers aren’t helping them or teaching how to manage their money, they should go out and find a way to learn how to do it on their own. 

REFLECTION: I wasn’t expecting every college student to be unconfident in their money management skills, and this person was a good example of that. However, she was still worried about financial situations in the future and that she’s afraid she won’t be able to handle them well. I definitely wasn’t expecting her to say that students themselves should be able to find their own personal finance resources and that parents and teachers shouldn’t be totally responsible.

#2: PhD student in her mid-twenties

·       Do you think it’s important for people to learn how to manage their personal finances? Why?

o   Absolutely. I think it’s a skill that follows you into adulthood, and I feel like it can relieve a lot of stress when you’re older. So if you know how to manage a bank account, budget, and save for vacations, then it can alleviate a lot of stress in life in general and in relationship with a significant other. It’s also a skill you can build on.

·       Have you received any education about how to manage your money? If so, when and from whom?  Do you feel that the education you received was helpful?

o   I didn’t have any in high school. The first time I had some type of talk about finances was my undergraduate first or second year in college. The only reason why was it was a requirement for my scholarship. It’s sad, because all I remember was something about a 401k, putting money away, and have it grow over time, and also to start young. I feel like I didn’t remember much of it because I was a freshman without any income. I feel like I would’ve better remembered it if I were about to have an income.

·       How do you feel about your personal money management skills? Do you feel confident in them?

o   I don’t. Not even close. My significant other does all of the vacation planning, and he keeps track of spending. I avoid it completely. I always go to the store and get worried if I’m going to get declined.

·       Do you ever worry about how well you’ll be able to manage your money in the future? If so, how often?

o   I do. I actually do worry about it, and I feel like I’m at a point in my life where I need to start learning about it. I worry about it a lot, and I think growing up, I didn’t learn how to budget because my family grew up without a lot of money to go anywhere, so my parents’ income always went to necessities, and not much went into savings.

·       What do you think is the best way or the best resource for getting the best personal finance education? Would you ever go to that resource?

o   That’s a tough one, because I don’t know of any resources. I’m thinking about going to the bank and talking to someone there would be my first one. What I would really like to see is see more student, financial-geared workshops, something I had in undergrad but at a graduate level, because we have different mindsets than undergrad students. Having a workshop that teaches about how to finance with a family or a significant other would be helpful, too. If it were free or if it didn’t cost too much, and the people teaching were experts, then I would definitely go.

·       Is there something you are doing currently that would be a solution to your personal need of improving your personal finance skills? Are you happy with your solution?

o   Um, I started the savings account for my wedding, so I think that’s a great start. I haven’t been checking my bank accounts more lately, so I’m not too proud with what I’m doing right now. I do need to improve my skills.

·       Which group do you think has more responsibility of teaching students how to manage their personal finances: teachers or parents?

o   I think parents. Like, I tend to blame my mom a lot for my lack of skills, but on the flip side, my mom didn’t have the resources, so maybe it should’ve been the school’s responsibility to teach me as well. I would say I think it’s the parents’ primary responsibility, but it’s the school’s job to support it and provide any resources necessary.

REFLECTION: The potential need for education about personal finance could be found more in older undergrad and graduate students since they are more likely to have jobs and have to manage the money they earn. This also brings to light the lack of resources students could utilize to learn about personal finance management because she was unaware of any.  

#3: Male Undergrad Student

·       Do you think it’s important for people to learn how to manage their personal finances? Why?

o   Yes, because well…if you don’t learn how to manage your finances, you’re gonna die. If you can’t manage your finances, you’ll blow all your money one Friday night after you get paid and get stuck eating ramen noodles for a week.

·       Have you received any education about how to manage your money? If so, when and from whom?  Do you feel that the education you received was helpful?

o   I have received no education about how to balance my money. It is horrible.

·       How do you feel about your personal money management skills? Do you feel confident in them?

o   I feel very confident in my money management skills. The fact that I can maintain suitable living conditions on three hundred dollars every two weeks is pretty good.

·       Do you ever worry about how well you’ll be able to manage your money in the future? If so, how often?

o   Oh, I worry about that very, very much. I worry about it once or twice a week.

·       What do you think is the best way or the best resource for getting the best personal finance education? Would you ever go to that resource?

o   I think that having someone in your life who is financially stable and willing and able to teach you financial stability is the best resource, because a class can teach you the theory, but nothing is better than practice and personal experience. And yes, I would definitely go to that resource.

·       Is there something you are doing currently that would be a solution to your personal need of improving your personal finance skills? Are you happy with your solution?

o   Oh yeah, I consider messing up and learning from it a process that helps improve my personal finance skills. And no, I am not happy with my solution.

·       Which group do you think has more responsibility of teaching students how to manage their personal finances: teachers or parents?

o   I think parents. Teachers can teach the theory, but they can’t teach the application. And there is a massive difference between theory and application in anything.

REFLECTION: Some students haven’t been taught any personal finance management skills and can still feel confident in their skills because they learn through their own experiences how to handle money. However, they still prefer to be taught or given advice by someone else who has had experience with managing finances.

SUMMARY: I believe my opportunity still exists, though maybe not as much as I had originally thought. Everyone I had interviewed were concerned with managing personal finances in the future, but I learned that depending on whether or not you’re an undergrad student or a graduate student, the mindset and the urgency to learn these finance skills. The need is more urgent in graduate students who already have jobs or are looking for a better one, so my opportunity is more accurate than when I started. I think that entrepreneurs should find a balance in adapting their opportunities based on customer feedback. Adapting their opportunities based on their feedback will make the product better and get them better reviews and as a result a better chance of their product being spread by word of mouth and gaining more customers. However, I think that entrepreneurs should only adapt to feedback that a good majority of their reviewing customers repeatedly bring up. If they try to focus on trying to satisfy every negative thing a customer says about their product, then the product might become worse instead of better.