I am advocate of teaching financial education, yearly, for K-12. I was asked, how can schools teach financial education? Factoring in that investing is boring may cause you to think, how can you teach it every day for 12 years?
I have watched a variety of YouTube channels about financial education. I even created one myself. I have read many articles on the subject.
Nathalia Arcuri and Thiago Nigro are probably the most known Brazilian YouTubers on the subject. Graham Stephan is probably the most known in the US. Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch star in videos, but do not create YouTube videos. Dave Ramsey is also a popular investment channel YouTuber.
I know this article is mainly seen by Americans, but maybe one day more Brazilians will read it. (It is too much work to create in both languages. I have tried.) I heard most Brazilians prefer Thiago Nigro, but I have never been told why. Personally, I think the best educator of Financial Education is Nathalia Arcuri. In my opinion, she is like Warren Buffett.
Nathalia teaches investing from a safe perspective. To me this is similar to Warren Buffett saying to invest in index funds. I understand why Warren says this, but doubt many others understand.
Is what she is doing wrong? No. We need to remember the situation. She is informing new people about investing. She has a course that I have never taken, but imagine she teaches the safe way here as well. Are you wondering what I think of her method?
Dave Ramsey has his method. You can read many reviews about his method. You need to understand why he teaches his way. He was a millionaire that lost his money, while applying principles that Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad. Dave borrowed to invest. Eventually it caught up with him. Is his current method wrong? No.
Are you questioning about teaching financial education in school?
If I know how to teach, then why am I not successful with my YouTube channel? The truth is I only wanted to write a book and teach you without making YouTube videos. This can’t happen, because traditional publishing company will not invest in me without a guaranteed success rate. Are you smiling?
People are afraid to invest in the stock market because of fear. We are taught fear all our lives, but never taught how to overcome it. Needless to say, I will self-publish and show you how to successfully invest with less fear.
Do I have a course or can I put one together? Yes. I will teach what Nathalia, Graham and others teach, but differently at the same time. I have seen people offer index fund courses, which bothers me. They talk about index funds as low fee and no management funds, yet they are going to offer a course. This is mind boggling!!!
I like Graham Stephan’s videos because he does one of the few things rarely seen in investment YouTube videos. I mentioned Dave Ramsey in this article because my sister-in-law took his class, and in my opinion did not benefit much. Graham made a video about how paying your house off is not the best strategy, which differs from Dave Ramsey. Graham is one of a few to point out this fact.
Graham also discusses credit cards and other issues related to money. Nathalia does the same.
You have just seen differing opinions and teaching methods. Would you like to know more? Are you curious if it can be taught in schools effectively? Are you confused since I said all three were doing it correctly?
The following story actually happened. There are similar type stories that are readily available on the internet.
One day in class, a college student asked his professor a question about a specific stock. The professor could not respond.
Why?
In my opinion, because the professor knows how to put money in the stock market but not teach. Regardless of being a teacher, professor or YouTuber, if you know and understand the stock market, then you can provide useful input or advice without the fear or worry about misleading someone. Warren Buffett does it. Peter Lynch did it.
Are you wondering what I would do to change this, to improve this? You may be thinking I have not said anything. I agree that I have only given you something to think about.
The two reasons for not telling just yet are that I do not have followers, so no one will know my thoughts. The other reason is similar to why Nathalia or Graham do not change their videos – they are bringing in new subscribers who need to know the basics.
Imagine making YouTube videos for six years. From a teaching perspective, this should provide material for consideration towards being taught yearly during K-12. Are you going to go back two years, much less six years, to watch all the videos produced? It is highly unlikely, which is why they do not change their method. This is why for me it has been difficult to get many followers – I did not want to make it a business.
That mindset must and is changing. If you want to be wealthy, then you need to change your mindset.
I am going to resume making YouTube videos again. First, I will focus on mindset and perception. Once you view both sides of the coin or situation, I will explain the following two questions:
- Why does Warren Buffett recommend investing in index funds?
- Why did most people lose money in the Fidelity’s Magellan fund while Peter Lynch managed the fund?
What would I do differently? I already told you two. Rather than telling other differences let me reiterate some positive attributes. The YouTubers that I mentioned teach to save and INVEST money. I have done the same. They inform you that you need to invest to generate money. I have done the same.
When it comes to investing, I would say you can break it down to three types of people. No, there are not just two categories in this case. I can help people from each group. In case you are wondering, knowing the information and getting it into your hands are two totally different issues. I am learning how to get it into your hands. Until then, I recommend Nathalia Arcuri’s and Graham Stephan’s video.
I would love to sit with Nathalia for a few days and talk. I have learned about investing in Brazil and a few other countries. Half of Brazil is financially illiterate. Half of the US is financially illiterate. In other countries it is higher. I have already helped a few people. I want to teach the world. My videos may never be amazing, but there are other ways to help. This sounds negative, but we all start with hope.
We have hope because we have negative thoughts. I have heard Nathalia say how she never imagined becoming as famous as she is. Graham did not start at the top either. Did you know both of these people had valuable experience before starting their YouTube channel. If they can do it, then I can do it. If they can do it, then YOU can do it.
In short, they are trying to get you to change your mindset. Unfortunately, others do not want you to change your mindset, which is why it is not taught in schools. This makes what Nathalia, Thiago, Graham, Dave and others are doing more difficult.
One more thing, I acknowledge these people because in my opinion they care about you. I can tell you many reasons I like Nathalia, but the one I will provide is why I know she cares. In 2020, when the stock market crashed, she was there to help you through it. My numbers may be off, but she was posting almost daily and I think two times a day when the market circuit breakers were tripping. While I like what Graham said about paying off a house early, he said something better. He said to invest in yourself by taking a course or buying a book if you had $1000, then index funds to learn as you venture into stocks.
Financial Education with Louis 