I still can't understand why I learned calculus in high school and learned nothing about credit. I was lucky in that my parents were very financially responsible, but while I knew how to be frugal, I didn't understand the power of investing from a young age, the difference between good & "bad" debt, or what I needed to do to build credit. There's so much I could have done in my 20s to put me in a stronger financial situation now. Thanks for being so open about your experiences -- one way to teach our next generation is to be more honest about money and stop treating it as a taboo subject!