As the CEO of a wealth management firm overseeing $6.5 billion in assets and a mother of four, I was thrilled to learn that Governor Abbott recently signed House Bill 27 into law, requiring all Texas public high school students to complete a one-half credit course in personal financial literacy. With this signing, Texas becomes the 29th state to guarantee all students receive this critical education, joining a growing movement that recognizes financial literacy as essential preparation for adult life.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
Consider this: our schools have taught health education, including sex education, for decades, yet until now, we’ve never required students to understand money management fundamentals. We send 18-year-olds into the world capable of signing up for credit cards and student loans without teaching them about opportunity costs, compound interest, or living below their means.
Working daily with high-net-worth families, I see how financial literacy shapes entire generations. Wealthy families understand these concepts and pass them down, but for many families, these crucial lessons simply aren’t being taught at home or in school.
The Foundation of Lifelong Wealth
While the law establishes the requirement for a semester-long course, the specific curriculum will be developed by the Texas Education Agency using free, open-source materials. However, the concepts that should be covered are game-changing: understanding opportunity costs in every financial decision, grasping how compound interest can work for or against you, mastering the discipline of spending less than you earn, and recognizing opportunities like 401(k) matches that can accelerate wealth building from the very start of their careers.
These aren’t abstract concepts—they’re the building blocks of financial independence. A 22-year-old who understands the power of maximizing their employer’s 401(k) match could retire with hundreds of thousands more than their peers who miss this opportunity in their early working years.
Bringing Financial Literacy to Life
This is why our firm has been so passionate about offering a financial literacy bootcamp for high school and college-aged students each summer. We’ve seen the power of experiential learning through our budgeting game that mimics real-life financial decisions, work-life balance choices, and the trade-offs we all face with our time and money. Our stock pitch competition teaches students not just about investing, but about research, analysis, and the confidence to make informed financial decisions.
The engagement we see when young people truly understand these concepts is remarkable. They begin to see money not as something mysterious or intimidating, but as a tool they can master and use to build the life they want.
A Message to Parents
For the parents reading this: House Bill 27 is a tremendous step forward, but it shouldn’t be the end of your child’s financial education, it should be the beginning. The conversations you have at home about money, the example you set with your own financial decisions, and the opportunities you create for them to practice these skills will reinforce and expand on what they learn in school.
Consider involving your teenagers in age-appropriate family financial discussions. Let them see how you evaluate major purchases, explain your investment philosophy, and share the lessons you’ve learned about money management over the years. These real-world applications will make their formal education even more meaningful.
Looking Forward
With 29 states now requiring standalone financial literacy courses, we’re witnessing a national shift toward recognizing these skills as fundamental to adult success. As both a financial professional and mother, I couldn’t be more excited. Our children deserve to enter adulthood with the same preparation for managing money as they have for every other aspect of life. House Bill 27 ensures that it happens, and that’s an investment in our collective future that will pay dividends for generations.
