Moneywise

Wed, Jun 18, 2025, 10:03 AM5 min read

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While plenty of studies show the link between financial knowledge and financial success, a recent report puts a price tag on it: $100,000.

A study from consulting firm Tyton Partners and nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance found that taking just one personal finance class in high school leads to an average lifetime benefit of about $100,000 per student. And that number may be conservative, according to CNBC.

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“We say it’s $100,000, but as we start to see more and more young people investing, that number is only going to increase,” said Tim Ranzetta, co-founder and CEO of Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit that provides middle and high school students with financial education.

Much of the value comes from making smarter money decisions — like avoiding high-interest credit card debt, qualifying for lower-cost loans and improving credit scores. But investing may be the most powerful lesson of all.

Learning how to navigate the financial markets can pay off for decades.

“Teaching students about the financial markets is the greatest asset for building wealth,” said Yanely Espinal, director of educational outreach at Next Gen, in an interview with CNBC.

A recent report found that roughly 70% of teens think saving for retirement is something they can think about later. At the same time, 80% of teens have never heard of a FICO score or don't understand what it means.

But some states are trying to close the gap. As of March 2025, 27 states require high school students to take a personal finance course before graduating.

“The issue isn’t that we don’t have teachers,” said John Pelletier of Champlain College. “What we don’t have is highly trained teachers because it is an orphan curriculum.”

Pelletier estimates the U.S. would need at least 23,000 trained educators to teach all 9.2 million public high school students in required-course states.

Read more: Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead

Even if your school doesn't offer a course — or if you graduated from high school a long time ago — it's never too late to learn the basics about money management and investing. Here's where to start: