When it comes to choosing classes during your college years, it seems like an easy task. After all, with your general college requirements, as well as your major/minor requirements, you may find that there are not many “fun” classes you can take. However, if you have the time, I highly recommend every college student take a personal finance class. It will really help in the future, which is (shockingly!) coming soon.

So, why take a personal finance class? After all, it’s so easy to avoid thinking about financial planning. The problem is that by avoiding financial planning, you are actually creating more financial problems for your future. Spending money is very easy, too easy in fact. Saving money, financial planning, and budgeting all takes some thought and effort. Unfortunately, managing your finances isn’t a skill you’re born with, so taking a personal finance course can really help you out in the long run. It is definitely a skill well worth learning, especially in today’s economy.

Senior year of college can mean a lot of different things to people; to me, it means coming to the brink of true adulthood and breaking out of the bubble of high school and college to enter the real world. With that comes a full-time job, an apartment in a new city, and of course, an income that’s not largely allowance money from parents. This comes on top of the pile of college debt students incur from just tuition, room, board, and meal plans alone. Factor in all the miscellaneous extras and you’ve got quite a mountain of financial obligations. Realizing this, I decided to take a personal finance course in the hopes of educating myself about budgeting, financial planning, and the ongoing lifelong process that comes with personal financing.

Although the course started only five short weeks ago, I have learned a lot about financial planning. From tax planning to credit cards, the course has already covered a vast majority of personal finance topics. Establishing financial goals, preparing an income statement, knowing how compound interest works, calculating taxable income, using credit cards, and deciding between the different of loans are just some of the subject matter covered in a personal finance course. We also get to learn about money market mutual funds, annual percentage rates (APR), fixed-rate loans versus variable-rate loans, and how to purchase a home and automobile for the first time. So many of these issues apply to our future and it is never too early to know and understand these matters. In fact, many high schools are now requiring students to learn personal finance, so seize the opportunity and take a personal finance course while you’re still enrolled in college.

The recent financial crisis has left many people questioning their financial decisions and has made more people concerned about their financial future. Although we can’t control the economic events surrounding us, we can learn all that we need to in order to make smart personal finance decisions. Taking a personal finance class can help you achieve financial security, no matter what situation the financial world is in. I can honestly say that taking a personal finance course was the smartest thing I’ve done in college; it is a class where I know I can apply the material after the final exam. It is a class where you can and will apply what you’ve learned into the real world.

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