Students could soon be hit by the ultimate lesson in planning for their future - retirement classes
Apparently being bombarded with Britain’s dramatic unemployment figures (22.3% for 16 to 24-year-olds, the highest since records began in 1992) is not burdensome enough. Students should grasp the sweeping, all-encompassing gloominess of their present and future situation.
Nigel Green, CEO of the deVere Group, a company which specialises in tailor-made solutions for retirees worldwide, argues the course should be present on the national curriculum in all secondary schools alongside more traditional topics such as English, maths and science.
“Planning for your future financial security is a fundamental life skill that is consistently overlooked," he said.
"At a time when Britain is in the midst of an unprecedented, and growing, pensions crisis it is of paramount importance that we teach young people how to be financially independent in retirement.”
A retirement planning course would without doubt “educate youngsters how to provide for themselves”, as Green mentions. But it would also be at the source of much anxiety and distress. Premature ones too.
Official UK data indicate that 49 out of 100 people currently aged 25 will be dependent on friends, family and charity in their retirement. The statistics are worrying, and Green affirms that the risk of not teaching this ‘life skill’ would be to condemn “a whole generation to a poverty-stricken retirement.”
Before teaching young people how to manage their old age, shouldn’t they be taught how to manage their young age?
Instead of learning how to administer their finances for something which is half a century away, secondary school students would benefit more from career advice tailored to their immediate futures.
It would certainly lift their spirits more than calculating how much they ought to save during their lifetime to afford a decent home nursing service.