I received an email from a personal finance curriculum in my inbox this morning (nothing unusual here, I get a lot of them:). The provider was encouraging their educators to update their curriculum since they had heard some were still using their 2001 edition (Remember Friends? That was the top TV show in 2001). Yikes! Quick digression, ok, let’s call it a commercial: Since NGPF makes all of its content available online, we make real-time updates when circumstances change, such as when the FAFSA becomes available three months earlier.

I thought it would be interesting to think about how the financial services industry has changed since 2001. In other words, what are students missing if they are being taught from a 2001 edition?

• How we bank:
  • Even as late as 2002, mobile banking was being defined as “making a transaction by calling a call center using a mobile device (Mobile Banking Systems and Technologies paper). How quaint!
  • Today, 53% of smart phone owners with a bank account used mobile banking services (no longer defined as calling a call center from a mobile phone) based on a Federal Reserve study.

• How we shop:
  • In June of 2000, only 22% of adults reported buying something online (Pew Internet) compared to a recent survey that found shoppers are making 51% of their purchases online (WSJ) 
  • Amazon had sales of $3.1 billion in 2001 vs. $107 billion in 2015 (#1 online retailer by a long-shot!
  • Nokia (remember them, now owned by FoxConn via Microsoft) had the best-selling mobile phone in 2001 (the 3310); doesn’t look very conducive to online shopping:

• How hackers wreak havoc by stealing  our identity
  • In 2004, 3.6 million households were victims of identity theft while in 2014 that number had grown to 17.6 million (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
  • Oh, and as you no doubt know, hackers are constantly adjusting their tactics 

• How we invest:
  • Think about the growth in index funds and new trends like robo-advising to name just two major trends occurring since 2001.

• How we manage our financial lives and pay for things:
  • In 2001, the IPhone didn’t exist, so talking about “apps” would have generated a lot of curious looks.
  • Today there are apps to handle all aspects of your financial lives (see chart below)
  • Venmo, a widely used mobile payment service didn’t get started until 2009 (wikipedia).

• How we pay for college:
  • Student debt has exploded to $1.3 trillion due to significant reduction in state support for public higher ed institutions.
  • Close to 70% of current graduates are carrying average student loan balances over $30,000 (TICAS).

• The companies targeting millenials with new financial service offerings:
  • In 2001, the fintech sector barely registered any interest from investors vs. today when billions of dollars are being invested annually in companies started by entrepreneurs who were in elementary school in 2001.
  • None of these companies targeting your students with new financial services even existed a few years ago, let alone in 2001 (hat tip to CB Insights):

I could go on and on, but I limited myself to one hour (send me anything I left out)..I hope this post convinces educators of the importance of keeping your curriculum fresh. What a great way to engage your students by educating them on how to navigate this ever changing financial services landscape. Note how many of the changes described above have happened even in the past few years. NGPF makes it easy for you by constantly updating our content to ensure you are delivering the most up-to-date, relevant and engaging curriculum to your students.

Updated (12/12/16 and then 1/3/2017): Hat tip to CB Insights for this chart showing how much the market value of retailers has changed in the past decade:

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The great news is that we keep updating our resources to reflect this changing landscape…Find out why thousands of teachers are using our resources at www.nextgenpersonalfinance.org

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.