More about learning how to assess risk. The Learning of Statistics and other STEM subjects helps more than the actual subject.
Lots of low income folks throwing their money away on lottery tickets and slot machines.
Better prevention of unwanted pregnancies.
Better understanding of traffic and health risks.
Etc, etc, etc.
In what grade should X education begin?
It’s deferred to the age at which the library will permit patrons to check out books regarding X.
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I visited a casino recently and it was kind of bewildering. All video slots. No mention of actual odds anywhere. And the odds would have been impossible to make sense of anyway given the number of weird mini-games within games.
Somewhat opposite of the tables where people are sort of into the (also very bad) odds.
Hopefully? The ridiculous money people blow on phone games will replace the money that goes into slot machines. Same basic concept of buzzers, lights, and “random”.
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Some states (maybe all?) require casinos to report the grand total odds - total payout / total wagered. That’s on the gaming commission website, for example.
I think that a minimum disclosure requirement would be to display that number prominently on every machine or game in the casino. And, express it as retention - “The house keeps, on average, 7.8% of all money wagered at this location.”
If the casino wants to vary that by machine or game, fine, just so the numbers add up.
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Not knowing how to play or win a game is a red flag for me not to play said game.
The casino knows what the return on each game is. They don’t want the players to know them.
In this case, X = “Information Asymmetry.”
Structure Boi!
Teach cooking and nutrition. Life long benefits. Plus, just possibly, an intro into how to navigate the advertising and heavy consumerism in our society.
I’d also like some lessons in ethics. But that is beyond the pale, I am afraid.
You only really need to teach kids two things. 0 and 1, or True/False if you prefer. Or True/False/Null if you want 3-valued logic. They can just build up everything on their own from there.
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Depends on your financial situation imo. If you’re poor as shit, then don’t sock away money in a place you can’t grab it tomorrow.
Either way, I agree with Indy that “retirement planning” should be, “here’s how to open an account on vanguard, and buy S&P.” (or whatever)
tomorrow I am a guest lecturer in my local HS’s personal finance class talking about…Insurance!
plan on covering
-risk management strategies and where insurance is in the list
-function of insurance and impact on personal finances
-most commonly purchased coverages by individuals
-typical UW questions/factors for personal lines P&C, life ins, and healthcare (thanks Obama!)
-insurance careers (some obv ones relatively unique to insurance) and how you might get into them/skills needed/where such jobs might be found
i am sure it will be the highlight of the semester for all!
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Probability should be taught in school.
I always found it crazy that I didn’t learn about annuities until I was training to be the type of person who would value them for insurance companies, yet a huge number of Americans will get a mortgage and maybe eventually a reverse mortgage without knowing some of the basic math, although they’ll have been taught the algebra required to learn it.
I can’t imagine the millions of complaining Facebook posts by parents who don’t get probability.
Also I realize I went to an unusually good high school, but is basic probability really not taught in school?
Too many people have the misconception that being owed something good after a string of bad luck is the Law of Averages. 
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My HS offered plenty of AP courses including calculus, but none of the math covered probability.
No AP Stats? I think mine had AP and normal stats? I don’t remember it well though.
I think a lot of schools are shying away from AP in favor of direct college classes through programs like Ohio’s College Credit Plus. My understanding is that colleges themselves also aren’t too fond of AP classes.
I agree it’s a hell of a lot more useful than geometry and calculus. Though less pretty.
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