The Dark Side of Personal Finance No One Talks About

Teetering between ignorance and bliss

Photo by Jordan McDonald on Unsplash

There’s no question that financial literacy is powerful to society. We know the perks: better sleep knowing the bills are on auto-pay, grinning when net worth climbs from red to black, and enjoying compound interest as if you struck gold during the Gold Rush.

But maybe, just maybe, not all of us are meant to know. Because when there is no one left to help, you’d be out of a job…

So, is financial knowledge truly power?

1. The system’s status quo

Unfortunately, the playing field is not always level with financial education. Financial education programs emphasize personal behavior but not systemic behavior, like redlining and the gender pay gap. 2024 marks the 50th year that women were able to sign their own lines of credit without their husbands. It is the combination of policy reform and conditioned behavior that increases wealth for others.

2. Risking it all

In the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Cecilia Hermasson and Sara Jonsson researched that the higher one’s financial interest (that is, motivation for financial gains), the greater one’s tendency to make high-risk investments. Without a level…