This is an article from the 2026 Civitas Examiner (Volume 3, No. 2) and was written by one of our students, Kaelen. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue. To read more Civitas Examiner stories or to submit your own, click here.
You cannot predict the future, but you can prepare for it. One of the best ways to prepare for the future is to understand and learn from the past. Looking at historical events like the Great Depression (1929-1939) and the Great Recession (2007-2009) helps us identify what went right, what went wrong, and how those lessons can help us make better financial decisions today.
The Great Depression began after the 1929 stock market crash and quickly became the worst economic crisis in American history. Around 9,000 banks failed during this time, causing many people to lose their savings because bank deposits were not yet insured. Unemployment reached about 25%, making it extremely difficult for millions of families to afford basic necessities. The millions of families who became financially devastated by the Depression demonstrate that the effects of a financial crisis extend far beyond Wall Street.
Nearly 80 years later, the Great Recession served as another reminder of how financial decisions can lead to widespread and devastating consequences. Many lenders approved risky mortgages to borrowers who could not afford them. Housing prices continued to skyrocket before they plummeted, causing the housing market to collapse, which contributed to another severe financial crisis. Like the Great Depression, millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes. During the 2008 Financial Crisis, the government stepped in to stabilize the economy. Although the causes of the Great Recession were different from those of the Great Depression, both crises revealed just how quickly financial instability can spread throughout a country, and even the world.
While these crises had different circumstances, they shared one very important lesson: financial decisions matter. Even though the government, banks, and other large financial institutions played major roles in both events, individuals also played a role, and everyone ultimately dealt with the consequences. Millions of people took on mortgages that they could not afford, contributing to instability and increasing debt. Families struggled because many jobs were lost, debt accumulated, and many households had no savings or were unprepared for financial emergencies. We cannot know for sure when the next financial crisis or extreme recession will hit, but we can take steps to prepare ourselves and survive when a crisis does occur. That is why financial literacy matters more than ever.
Financial literacy is often thought of as getting rich fast or investing in winning stocks, but this could not be further from the truth. Instead, financial literacy is about building financial stability. This means learning how to create a solid budget, saving for emergencies, understanding the long-term cost of debt, using credit responsibly, and beginning to invest for your future self. These are all practical and essential skills that nearly every adult will need to have, yet most students graduate without ever truly learning them in school.
High schools should make practical personal finance education a higher priority for students. Students should graduate from high school with a clear understanding of basic budgeting, taxes, credit scores, insurance, loans, retirement accounts, and investing basics, as well as the consequences of debt. Learning about these topics should be an informative and useful experience for students, which would be different from the mandatory personal finance course required in Missouri. In this course, many students say that they left without learning essential and practical financial skills, and that the only thing they did was memorize financial formulas that they never end up using. This needs to change by making the required course more applicable to what students will actually be expected to do throughout their lives—not memorizing formulas that will never be used.
At the same time, families also need to make a shift by talking more openly with children about money, encouraging smart saving and spending habits, and teaching young kids about the difference between necessities and wants. Financial literacy should not begin only after graduation—or even in a high school classroom. Financial literacy should begin long before a person becomes an adult.
Nobody wakes up on their 18th birthday or the day after high school graduation and just suddenly understands how to make smart financial decisions. Financial literacy is learned over time. As someone who has had a job since I was fourteen, I have begun learning many of these skills myself. By managing my own paychecks, talking with family members, asking questions, and taking the initiative to do certain things such as opening a Schwab Teen Investor account, I have realized that financial literacy is something that needs to be practiced. It takes curiosity, patience, mistakes, and perseverance to keep learning and growing. I definitely do not know everything, but I do know that making an effort to learn about financial literacy and developing good financial habits at a young age will most certainly benefit me in the future.
So find someone you know that invests or has experience with financial literacy, and ask them to share what they’ve learned. Apply for a job if you’re able to, open savings and investing accounts, ask questions, be curious and make an effort to learn something new. There are countless free resources online that help teach people about financial literacy, and even provide information about more specific topics such as details about a certain stock. Don’t be afraid to take the step and start learning for your future, because it’s never too late to start.
History shows that recessions, depressions, and economic crises are part of life. Markets dip and soar, while panic comes and goes. We cannot predict or prevent these things, but we can choose to prepare ourselves financially. The greatest lesson from the Great Depression and the Great Recession is ensuring that future generations have the resources and skills necessary to make smart financial decisions when the next challenge arrives.
