Money may not literally grow on trees, but the financial decisions you make today can shape what your future looks like tomorrow.
If you are a high school student, money might not feel like the most urgent subject in your life right now. You may be thinking about graduation, college, trade school, your first full-time job, getting a car, moving out or simply enjoying your final years of school. However, all of those decisions connect to money in one way or another.
That is why financial literacy matters long before you receive your first major paycheck.
What Money Tree Will You Plant encourages young people to think about their financial future before they make some of the biggest decisions of their lives. Through practical financial education, Rich Wittmeier challenges high school juniors and seniors to consider not only what they want their future to look like, but also what that future may cost.
So, what kind of financial future do you want to grow?
Let’s start planting.
What Does Financial Literacy Really Mean?
Financial literacy sounds like a complicated phrase, but the idea behind it is simple.
It means understanding how money works well enough to make informed decisions.
For example, do you know how to create a budget? Do you understand the difference between an asset and a liability? Do you know how credit card interest works? What happens when inflation increases the cost of everyday items? How much of your paycheck will actually reach your bank account after deductions?
These questions may not seem exciting when you are seventeen years old. However, once you start living independently, they become very real.
Financial literacy helps you understand topics such as:
- Income and paychecks
- Budgeting
- Saving
- Borrowing
- Credit cards
- Interest
- Inflation
- Housing costs
- Transportation expenses
- Insurance
- Taxes
- Retirement
- Assets and liabilities
More importantly, financial literacy gives you the confidence to ask better questions before making expensive decisions.
Start With Your Dreams
Before you start calculating dollars and cents, ask yourself a bigger question:
What do you want your life to look like?
Maybe you want to become an engineer. Perhaps you want to own a business. You might want to work in healthcare, learn a skilled trade, join the military, become a teacher or pursue a completely different path.
Then think beyond your career.
Where do you want to live?
Do you want to own a home?
Do you want a family?
Would you like to travel frequently?
What kind of car would you like to drive?
When would you like to retire?
These dreams matter because your financial decisions should support the life you want to build.
However, dreams become much more useful when you connect them to a realistic plan.
For instance, imagine that you dream of living in a large home, traveling several times a year, raising a family and retiring comfortably. There is nothing wrong with those goals. However, you should begin asking what level of income, savings and financial discipline may be required to support them.
In other words, your career and financial habits should work together.
Understand What Your Career Can Support
Choosing a career involves more than asking, “What job sounds interesting?”
Of course, enjoying your work matters. You may spend decades working in your chosen field. Therefore, finding something meaningful and enjoyable can make a major difference in your life.
At the same time, you should understand the financial side of your career choice.
Ask questions such as:
What is the starting salary?
How much can someone earn after five, ten or twenty years?
Does the career offer opportunities for advancement?
What education or training will you need?
How much will that education cost?
Will you need student loans?
Are benefits included?
Can the career support the lifestyle you want?
This does not mean you should choose a career based only on money. Instead, it means you should make your decision with your eyes open.
Ideally, you want a career that combines three things: something you enjoy, something you can become good at and something that provides the income necessary to support your goals.
Learn How to Build a Budget
A budget is one of the most useful tools you can learn to use.
Unfortunately, many people hear the word “budget” and immediately think of restrictions. In reality, a budget gives you control.
A simple budget shows:
Money coming in – Money going out = Money remaining
However, effective budgeting requires more than knowing your balance.
You need to understand where your money goes.
For example, your future monthly expenses could include:
- Rent or mortgage
- Electricity
- Water
- Internet
- Transportation
- Gas
- Car insurance
- Health insurance
- Groceries
- Clothing
- Entertainment
- Phone bills
- Debt payments
- Savings
Once you see those expenses together, you begin to understand what independent living actually costs.
That knowledge can influence your decisions today.
For example, if you discover that the lifestyle you want may require a higher income, you may reconsider your training, education, career path or spending habits.
That is exactly what financial education should do: help you make informed decisions before financial problems appear.
Learn the Difference Between Needs and Wants
One of the simplest financial lessons can also become one of the most powerful.
Learn the difference between a need and a want.
A need supports your basic ability to live and work. Housing, food, utilities, basic clothing, transportation and essential insurance often fall into this category.
A want makes life more enjoyable, comfortable or entertaining.
For example, you may need transportation to get to work. However, you may want an expensive luxury vehicle.
You need food. However, eating at restaurants several times a week may be a want.
You need clothing. However, buying expensive designer brands may be a want.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying your money. In fact, your financial plan should leave room for fun. Nevertheless, consistently putting wants ahead of needs can create serious problems.
Therefore, cover your essential expenses first, build savings and then decide how much money you can comfortably spend on wants.
Be Careful With Credit Cards and Borrowing
Credit can be helpful.
It can also become expensive very quickly.
A credit card allows you to make purchases without immediately using cash from your checking account. Used responsibly, it can be a convenient financial tool. However, if you spend money you do not actually have and carry balances month after month, interest can turn small purchases into much larger expenses.
The same principle applies to borrowing.
At different stages of life, you may borrow money for college, a vehicle, a home or a business. Before taking any loan, understand the terms.
Ask:
How much am I borrowing?
What is the interest rate?
How long will I make payments?
What will the monthly payment be?
How much will I pay in total?
Can my budget comfortably handle the payment?
Most importantly, never focus only on whether someone is willing to lend you money.
Focus on whether borrowing that money makes sense for your financial future.
Understand Inflation Early
Inflation simply means that prices generally increase over time and your money loses purchasing power.
You have probably already seen this happen.
Think about the price of snacks, fast food, clothes, concert tickets, fuel or electronics over the past several years. Prices change and many things become more expensive.
Now imagine how inflation can affect you over thirty or forty years.
Your rent may rise.
Food prices may increase.
Insurance may cost more.
Healthcare may become more expensive.
The lifestyle that costs one amount today could cost significantly more later.
Therefore, your income should grow over time as well.
This is another reason career development matters. The more valuable your skills become, the better positioned you may be to earn higher wages and keep your income moving ahead of rising expenses.
Start Saving Before You Feel Ready
Many young people assume they will start saving once they earn more money.
Unfortunately, that habit can become easy to postpone.
You get your first job and think, “I’ll save after I buy a car.”
Then you think, “I’ll save after I move into my apartment.”
Later, you may say, “I’ll save once I earn more.”
Meanwhile, years can pass.
Instead, start building the habit early.
Even if you cannot save a large amount, saving consistently teaches discipline. Over time, that habit can help you prepare for emergencies, major purchases, education, retirement and unexpected financial challenges.
Think of savings as part of your financial foundation rather than whatever happens to remain at the end of the month.
Talk About Money With Your Parents
One of the best financial resources may already live in your home.
Your parents or guardians have likely dealt with paychecks, taxes, mortgages, rent, car payments, insurance, credit cards, unexpected bills, savings and career decisions.
Ask them about their experiences.
What financial mistakes would they avoid if they could start again?
How did they choose their careers?
Did their incomes grow the way they expected?
How did they budget when they first moved out?
How expensive was their first car?
What surprised them about buying a home?
How did they prepare for emergencies?
You do not need to copy every decision your parents made. Instead, learn from their experience.
A ten-minute conversation could teach you a lesson that saves you hundreds or even thousands of dollars later.
Your Financial Education Should Never Stop
Graduation does not mean your education is finished.
Whether you go to college, attend trade school, join the military, start working or build a business, you will continue learning throughout your life.
The financial world will change too.
Tax laws change. Interest rates change. Technology changes. Job markets change. Housing costs change. Investment options change.
Therefore, continue asking questions.
Read.
Research.
Speak with experienced people.
Learn how your benefits work.
Review your budget.
Understand your paycheck.
Study major purchases before making them.
Most importantly, do not assume you already know everything you need to know about money.
Financial education is a lifelong process.
So, What Money Tree Will You Plant?
Your financial future will not appear overnight.
Like a tree, it grows over time.
Your education forms part of the roots.
Your career becomes part of the trunk.
Your budgeting habits provide stability.
Your savings create stronger branches.
Your financial decisions determine how well that tree can continue growing through life’s unexpected storms.
You do not need to have every answer while you are still in high school. In fact, your career goals and dreams may change many times.
What matters is that you start thinking about them.
What Money Tree Will You Plant by Rich Wittmeier encourages high school students to connect financial education with the real decisions they will soon face. Instead of waiting until adulthood to learn about money through expensive mistakes, students can begin developing financial knowledge before graduation.
So ask yourself:
What career do I want?
What will my dreams cost?
How much income might I need?
What financial habits should I build now?
What can I learn before I leave high school?
The best time to begin building your financial future is not someday after graduation.
It is now.
Start learning. Start planning. Start saving.
And most importantly, decide what kind of money tree you want to plant.