Actually, I had some education in investing and credit in High School. It was in one of the best classes I took (for basic life skills), JROTC (Yes, I was a “Rotsy” nerd. My first year in Millington, TN, I was in NJROTC (Navy Junior Reserve Training Corp), then first six weeks at the AL791st AFJROTC (Air Force JROTC). I was then in Guam for a year and a half… no JROTC at the private school (public schools were horrible, and our tuition is a big reason for my parent’s current financial situation). Then, half of Junior and all of Senior year back here at Foley High School, and the AFJROTC program.
Navy ROTC was a little bit more fun. I was on the Drill Team (which was armed drill), and the Rifle Team (shooting). We had actual demilitarized M1 Springfield Rifles (I think they were used in Korea, maybe WWII as well… bolt action, very heavy). Those were MUCH more fun to spin. Our program had 50. The Drill team had dedicated weapons (you had to memorize the serial number, and most people named theirs), the extras were for the regular classes to drill with. I was the assistant armory officer (though I had a cadet inlisted rank). The armory officer didn’t do much except count the spare parts every now and then… I’m the one who replaced all the busted stocks (happened a lot… you spin and throw an 12 Lb rifle, and you’re likely to drop it often, and break it occasionally). One big difference though with the Navy JROTC… they got more money. All the uniforms, all the rifles, etc were provided by the Navy. We had a two whole boxes of about 50 spare rifle stocks. I think we had a couple guards too, but those rarely broke. BTW, these rifles were real, but disabled. The bolts were welded shut (you couldn’t load them), and everything inside the trigger housing was welded together as well (so even if you could load it, you couldn’t pull the trigger). I imagine the firing pin was removed too, but because of all the welding, you couldn’t really open it up that far (so if you could load it, and you could pull the trigger, it still wouldn’t fire). We used BB Guns for shooting, but we also had .22 rifles for competitions. Unfortunately since the year I was there was the first year of the program, there were no competitions. Would’ve been nice if there were. I was pretty accurate, and often times in the 10 shots between replacing the targets, I would have just 1 hole. 8)
AFJROTC was pretty cool too, but here where we get into the financial and other education. The core of the curriculum was Airospace History… Things like Scott Carpenter being the first American in space, and John Glen (3rd American in space) being the first American to perform a full orbit… etc. Our Chief (Cheif Master Sergeant) was a pretty smart guy (that was the theme I noticed in common for both units… the Enlisted were much smarter than the officers.). Cheif usually taught twice a week on life skills. Some included effective listening and counseling, and others included investing, mostly about proportions… high vs. low risk, interest vs. growth, etc. Did get one mini-lesson about money in Millington though… Sr. Cheif wrote up on the board his name, and Capt. Hall’s name. Next to his, he put “Enlisted, then college”, and next to the Captain’s he put “College, then commissioned”. Then he said, “Want to know the difference?” Next to him he wrote “$50K/Year”, and next to Captain Hall’s he wrote, “$90K/Year”, then said, “Go to college!”. Hehe. Only really bad thing about the AFJROTC was they used “facimile” weapons. Just a couple pounds, rather awkward in feel compared to the real thing. This was becaused the Air Force is cheap… the Navy unit one town North had M1’s. The funniest thing was when the sprung for new ones for the Color Guard… their think aluminum bolts open to show a plastic round, rofl.
Oh, oh… I know that one!!! ALL OF THEM! I’m a member of Navy Federal Credit Union, and I started out about that way. A starter Visa card… pay them $500, and you get a card with a $500 limit. 5 years later, it’s now unsecured (so it’s real credit), with a $900 limit, and I have $500 of overdraft credit on my ShareCheck account. By the way, there is nothing better than a good credit union. It took us years to get into NFCU (because there are certain rules… mostly because it was started just for Navy and MC officers, but when dad was in Japan, the rules let him in). I’ve got a “ShareSavings” account and a “ShareCheck” account. With my checking I get free unlimited check writing, free ATM, free Internet banking with Web Bill Pay, free Visa Check Card, free direct deposit, no minimum balance, and I earn interest on it (1.some-odd percent, vs the 3.some-odd percent for ShareSavings). Technically though, it’s not interest, it’s dividents. That’s because Credit Unions are not companies like banks. They’re a different category, all the members own a share (determined by how much you have in the credit union, which is why they’re called “ShareSavings” and “ShareCheck” accounts). My credit card and overdraft protection have a fairly low %12.5, with no fees (except for overcharges, and late payments… but that’s applied to really late payments).
One more thing… don’t believe the a-holes at Capital One. Their whole series of commercials are about low interest rates, but I got an offer and wanted to see just how low… 19%!!!
Imp
:x :o