One Life-Changing Class You Never Took (TedTalk Summary) One Life-Changing Class You Never Took: Alexa von Tobel at TEDxWallStreet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jkri0AeZWQ In this video Alexa von Tobel talks about the importance of educating (young) people on the subject of personal finance. Right now, this is not taught in school and people learn about personal finance by talking to their parents and through trial and error. As a result of that, money is causing a lot of stress for most people and a majority lives paycheck to paycheck. Alexa gives us the example of Jessica, a 22-year-old woman who just graduated, and learns us about the implications of the bad decisions Jessica makes. Along the way she teaches us 5 main principles of personal finance: - make a budget: 50% of our income should go towards essential expenses, 30% towards lifestyle choices and 20% towards investing in the future. - pay off your debts and be debt-free - save money for emergencies. - negotiate your salary. - think about your retirement. Because of the mistakes Jessica makes, she will not be able to buy a house and will not have enough money for her retirement. The biggest concern though is the domino effect. Jessica's kids will likely end up in the same situation, but will also have to help to pay Jessica's retirement.This will create a downward financial spiral that will continue for many generations. The solution to this problem is to teach everyone these basic principles of personal finance in school, before they enter the world and make the same mistakes Jessica made.