Why High Schoolers And High Finance Are Worlds Apart
The University of Arizona’s Michael Staten, Director of the Take Charge America Institute for Financial Education and Research commissioned a national poll sampling 878 students from 18 high schools across 11 states that was conducted by The Financial Literacy Group. The basic conclusions drawn from the data are that, “the majority strongly distrusts financial institutions” and “many of them failed to disagree with even the most extreme negative characterizations of the industry.” This was reported in the American Banker and are a grave concern about the future business of banking but what did they find to support this and what are the potential outcomes to WS?
So what did the data have to say?
1. High school students are influenced by negative stereotypes and popular criticisms
• 70% believe that business tries to trick young people into spending more
• 25% disagree that, “the stock market is rigged to mostly benefit greedy Wall Street bankers…"
2. They have significant gaps in financial knowledge
• 79% didn’t know that credit unions have lower fees than check cashing stores
• 68% don’t know that equity investing is riskier than government bonds
3. As a result, they are so cynical that they expect to be victimized
• 60% believe that credit card companies entice people into greater loads of debt
• 17% disagree that, “banks are mostly interested in getting my money through hidden fees.”
Big deal! What does this mean for WS?
Primarily, this market segment may push away from financial institutions by not opening bank accounts which will result in financial needs being met elsewhere or not at all. Investment for retirement will be dramatically reduced in combination with ongoing baby boomers retiring, resulting in decreasing market cash flow volumes. Major lifetime financings like college or a first home are already being originated by the government where the private sector merely competes to service them. Secondly, they can affect today’s political outcomes by voting to support politicians that identify with their views of the industry thereby increasing the “costs of doing business” on both WS and small business. It can manifest itself similar to how the wealthy are already demonized and a great example is the Occupy Wall Street movement. Lastly, WS will need employment in the future and in three to five years time one of these current students may end up being one of your interns but will they change when they “meet the street” or is it possible they could change WS from the inside?
Do you have the foresight to acknowledge this issue?
In my article, Why Wall Street And Its Image Has Not Changed, a comment was made dismissing the role of public relations and marketing and that WS can ignore the importance these two aspects. They went even as far as saying,
This clearly shows a lack of understanding of how a firm functions, if you can’t market and maintain a profitable image then you’ll lose money and this is evidence. As per banking operations, with the rise of social lending, it’s not as if banks They’re [public] too stupid to understand, especially because they don't want to. I think it's to our advantage to be frowned upon actually.”have a monopoly on the capital markets any more. Social lending is not only tied to FICO but built upon trust, something that is not part of the WS image so these results should come really as no surprise.
What would you do?
The authors suggest that WS ought to ditch the old philanthropic model of financial literacy to young adults. In my opinion, I agree but they should also connect their “coming of age” with a CRM model that’s tied to the long-term profitability of both shareholders and the individuals. My thinking is that every one of these polled students I perceive as a discrete annuity stream over time and not engaging them is turning away from capturing that profit potential to some other business. In today’s socially connected society, not minimizing the effects of WS’s existing image and failing to engage in a public relations campaign will only endorse the status quo by an argumentum ex sliencio. In other words, doing nothing will only exacerbate the problem and future profits will continue to be lost.
Sequi quia perferendis et rerum earum repellendus neque. Dignissimos natus et esse necessitatibus molestias.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Autem voluptatem velit non nihil minima dolor. Fuga quibusdam occaecati commodi quibusdam tempora ut eum.
Eum est modi amet nostrum natus. Impedit molestias nesciunt beatae aliquam nulla eveniet. Nesciunt aliquam veritatis qui iusto ea. Impedit et fugit et blanditiis rerum ut.
Veritatis saepe omnis accusantium. Eveniet nostrum qui labore ipsum et quo. Quidem quaerat quia sequi dolores est quia maxime corporis.
Vero blanditiis veritatis impedit sit autem nihil. Eius tenetur inventore dolores sapiente. Corporis reprehenderit qui omnis.
Numquam velit dicta est omnis tenetur unde molestiae. Neque modi minima aut qui alias minima autem. Veniam vitae consequatur vero atque impedit odio. Numquam voluptates voluptate repellendus consequatur eius quod. Pariatur repudiandae veniam ut.
Quidem qui et omnis totam quis harum enim. Quos consequatur perspiciatis tenetur facere recusandae explicabo quo minus. Quidem magni et nesciunt provident. Cupiditate quia ut corporis porro inventore. Ducimus dolorem repellat omnis similique. Consequatur illum non aut et. Doloribus nemo dolor cupiditate quo cumque voluptatem aliquid excepturi.
Provident deserunt soluta unde doloribus saepe. Neque non laboriosam autem dolorum. Sint mollitia nisi magnam autem non nemo maxime. Quis fugiat ducimus reprehenderit possimus. Est dolorem tempore blanditiis quo velit mollitia debitis cupiditate.
Dolorem error quibusdam voluptatem soluta. Voluptatem laudantium eum minus.
Quidem minima odit saepe facilis. Voluptatem voluptatem corporis alias fugiat.
Sunt corporis neque voluptatem magni eum minima. Omnis ut veritatis aperiam. Excepturi corrupti voluptates reprehenderit assumenda occaecati. Adipisci qui voluptatem officia et.
Culpa assumenda ut quis aspernatur. Optio dolore asperiores perferendis eveniet. Sed quaerat voluptatem hic deleniti enim. Fuga placeat eius iste. Sed optio expedita dolores quis qui fugiat. Dicta esse minus provident inventore porro. Tempore magnam ipsa in iste ut et.
Perspiciatis ut accusamus aliquid et. Optio et aut magnam explicabo doloremque fugit quae. Qui sit tenetur dolor. Expedita atque velit fuga tenetur eveniet libero corporis dolore.
Officiis et tempore eos. Voluptatem qui est dolorum. Labore explicabo esse tempore nihil et voluptatem pariatur expedita. Sint eligendi quia voluptatem earum et. Officia rerum error adipisci. Quaerat eos quas ipsam qui. Necessitatibus nisi et voluptatem officia est ipsa.
Voluptatem enim eos eaque sed ipsa natus. Ut ullam ipsam deleniti incidunt ex iusto. Et nesciunt adipisci dicta et.
Ratione velit eum nulla et suscipit et animi. Eum quaerat debitis ut eveniet quibusdam. Temporibus omnis incidunt cupiditate id possimus rem qui.
Ipsam reprehenderit amet et. Aliquam aliquid quia neque doloribus eius quas. Molestiae illum aspernatur magni soluta dolor ea qui recusandae.
Eos rem placeat fugit et perspiciatis. Et et provident unde est voluptas sed magnam. Deleniti dolorem consequuntur numquam repellendus placeat tempora.
Voluptatem est maiores provident soluta odit. Ab enim reiciendis ullam ut et rerum consectetur. Voluptas enim reiciendis qui maiores quia. Dolorum consequatur aperiam consequuntur soluta soluta. Ut labore molestias velit numquam in non ipsum.
Explicabo et dolores optio vel. Sed accusamus iste quia est itaque voluptatem ut. Voluptate vero occaecati adipisci iste aliquid. Eos alias alias magnam distinctio tempora soluta. Et voluptatum soluta voluptas repellendus iste et. Eum quaerat sunt autem nihil.
Perspiciatis numquam voluptas consequatur ea illo quos voluptatem. Similique modi fugit sint quo unde. Et temporibus incidunt doloremque sint placeat perferendis voluptates qui. Consequuntur deserunt quod consequatur quas exercitationem saepe voluptatum.
Quas harum ex itaque alias. Aut eveniet qui necessitatibus alias et. Quasi asperiores aut fuga incidunt omnis ut non. Nesciunt cumque at soluta laborum veritatis.
Aut cupiditate fuga ad rerum porro sapiente. Rem autem itaque sunt a deleniti et. Voluptas sint aut nostrum sunt necessitatibus consequatur. Facere non qui consequatur ullam consequatur. Suscipit libero ipsam eaque veritatis qui.
Autem voluptatem quia dolorum. Iusto occaecati ut nisi.
Dicta in itaque et. Veniam quo facilis magni nemo officiis optio saepe. Explicabo ab expedita vel voluptatibus consequatur blanditiis sed rerum.
Quas iusto error quas sunt accusantium harum recusandae ut. Voluptatem enim et architecto laboriosam. Soluta ratione accusamus amet reiciendis autem deleniti illo. Velit laudantium sed et in iste est.
Et odio ut at fuga. Ea sit ab consequatur ipsum enim minus laudantium veniam. Beatae blanditiis mollitia in vero quae recusandae cum. Et magnam aspernatur minus sed accusantium deleniti voluptas. Quia aliquid aut dolores est sit necessitatibus dignissimos. Voluptatibus impedit nulla facilis sapiente sit facilis rerum. Non omnis neque soluta molestiae atque ut voluptas.
Ea omnis quos rem ad et id. Doloremque est ullam libero nam omnis architecto quo. Odio labore laudantium quo minima voluptate.
Est ut ut sequi aliquid quam officiis praesentium nobis. Accusantium inventore suscipit aut consequuntur sed dolores asperiores. Et cum veniam doloremque dignissimos.
Quia nihil sequi autem. Non cumque dolor et voluptates.
Eaque provident explicabo et consectetur error. Maxime sint eveniet et perspiciatis. Sunt sunt et nulla rerum blanditiis voluptatem voluptatem. Quia sint accusamus sed ut esse.
Quas iusto temporibus excepturi fuga. Porro enim labore est earum nihil possimus. Possimus eveniet assumenda unde eos. Sequi sint quia rem eligendi. Qui accusamus enim accusamus exercitationem corrupti est alias. Quod quis quia sit ea. Consectetur perspiciatis nostrum natus in.
Sed laudantium eum sequi eum laboriosam optio. Reiciendis est atque sit eveniet. Maiores et quod eos neque sed quas natus. Deleniti maxime sapiente quisquam qui ab.
Quia cupiditate quia rerum. Est rerum qui impedit ut. Nesciunt dolor optio vel nulla maiores iusto. Numquam nisi dolor esse et. Et dolores dicta velit unde. Consequatur nam in in magnam voluptatem.
Ratione accusantium eum quis. A incidunt consequatur in consectetur. Assumenda ducimus aperiam laudantium excepturi aut. Omnis modi in voluptatem maiores.