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Pique'n'yer interest

What I didn’t learn in high school

Like a lot of people of my generation, it’s taking a long time to grow up. Every time I take another step towards being an adult — I’m 34 but still think like a 19 year old — I have to learn all the corresponding life lessons the hard way.

In the past two years I’ve been married, bought a house, and now I have a baby on the way in less than a month. That means I’ve had to learn about joint bank accounts, mortgages, life and home insurance, the strata act, long term financial planning, parenthood, and all kinds of other basics.

These are all things I would have liked to have been taught, rather than to have had to teach myself. For example, if someone explained RRSPs properly in high school I would have started to invest at age 20 instead of age 31, which experts recommend, and I’d have a lot more saved up for my retirement.

So what did I learn in high school?

I learned some math, but nothing I can really use to easily figure out a budget or measure how much an investment is worth after taxes, or how much interest I’ll end up paying on my mortgage.

I learned some English and commerce, but not enough to be able to translate the fine print on an insurance policy or a banking document to understand what the hell they’re talking about.

I learned some science, but not enough biology to truly understand the dynamics of childbirth or child development. I’m shocked to discover how little I knew about something so basic to human life, and learned in just two days of pre-natal classes in December.

Looking back at my last 15 years of muddling, I think I really could have used a course on basic life lessons before I left home.

For example, I dug myself into a deep hole of debt during and after University before I finally realized that credit cards are kind of a scam, and that getting a second credit card to pay off the first is nothing short of stupid. It took me more than seven years of scrimping to finally get out of personal debt, much of which I could have avoided if someone explained to me how credit works.

For example, if you put $1,000 on your credit card at 18.5 per cent and just make the minimum payment each month it will take almost 13 years to pay it off. During that time you’ll pay roughly $1,115 in interest, or more than double what you borrowed in the first place. The real lesson is that if you can’t afford something then you probably shouldn’t buy it.

I also had to take out a student loan in university, but didn’t really understand at the time that it would take me 11 years to pay back what I borrowed to cover expenses for three years. I still would have needed to take out a loan but I might have been a little more careful where I spent the money and asked for a little less.

It would have been nice to have a course in high school that taught me those lessons before I had to learn them myself, as well as how to make and keep a budget, the types of investments out there, the different types of insurance available, and how banks and bank accounts function.

And the economic lessons are just the tip of the iceberg. I would have loved it if someone explained the difference between university and college, and told me how much people in trades actually earn. When you’re in high school you really have no idea how many different jobs are out there, or of how little importance a Bachelor’s degree in English or Psychology really is in life if you don’t plan on going to grad school afterwards.

I would also liked to have known a little about managing a household.

In Toronto, Home Economics and Industrial Arts were only mandatory for Grade 8 students. Unfortunately, the 13-year-old me fooled around constantly in home-ec, ruining food and breaking sewing machines, and was proud to receive the lowest grade ever awarded for the class — 13 per cent. I was a little more serious about Industrial Arts, but have not worked with a lathe, table saw or drill press since. Learning to use a simple power drill, tile a floor and fix drywall would have been infinitely more relevant to the real world.

I also can’t believe they let me graduate high school without knowing anything about nutrition or how to cook for myself, or how to do minor household and vehicle repairs. Some basic fitness and a few civics lessons would also have helped.

The last year of high school, before most of us headed out on our own for the first time, would have been the perfect time to learn those lessons.

And now I have a baby on the way. Although that’s hardly a unique occurrence in this world, or in baby boom Whistler, I still have no idea what to expect other than what parents have told me — and that’s based on the things they had to learn for themselves the hard way.

I’d like to learn some life lessons the easy way for once.