According to the American Bankers Association (ABA), April is National Financial Literacy month. Washington High School business teacher Colin Mulford spoke with KCII News about the importance of financial literacy to student’s futures and how he presents the content in the classroom, “We look at budgeting. Have students get an understanding of the type of lifestyle they are going to be able to afford. If you make $40,000 a year, it’s going to be pretty hard to have a mansion in Los Angeles. Understand credit and loans in general. Banking, talk about insurance and its importance. Retirement as well. We’ll create a salary-based budget. They’ll look at where they want to live, how long your money would last, real-life credit reports, we research credit cards, debit cards and banking and see which is best. We look at actual insurance statements. The things you learn, you are going to use for the rest of your life.”

While the Iowa Department of Education determined that a financial literacy course is no longer a state-wide requirement for high school graduation, the Washington district chose to keep the requirement intact for its students. To hear more from Mulford listen to Monday’s Jessica Yoder & Sarah Bigley with Kalona Realty Washington Page free online at KCIIradio.com.