Rapunzl Improves the Futures of American High School Students Through Financial Literacy

CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / February 1, 2022 / The United States possesses the biggest economy in the world, but what is the financial health of those who contribute to it? The numbers are not encouraging. Four in seven Americans are financially illiterate. Two-thirds lack an emergency fund while 78% of adults are living paycheck to paycheck. Less than 20% of adults are confident in their savings.

While the reasons behind those numbers are undoubtedly complex, one possibility is the lack of financial education that American students encounter in school, a problem that Rapunzl Investments, founded by Brian Curcio and Myles Gage, seeks to solve through its free simulated trading platform that allows students to explore investing in stocks and crypto without ever leaving their smartphones.

The Problem of Proper Financial Education in Schools

As of 2019, only 24% of millennials felt that they understood basic financial topics, a situation with far-reaching repercussions. Lacking financial awareness can undermine the ability of American families to save and build generational wealth. Right now, financial education is almost entirely learned through personal experience. According to the Federal Reserve Bulletin, 73% of people with high financial literacy scores claim they were self-taught. While their initiative can be applauded, the question is whether schools themselves can step into this gap with their own programs.

Rapunzl states that it is an option well-worth considering. "From 2018 to 2020, the number of states that mandate personal finance courses for high school students to graduate increased 24%," the company says. "This is a welcome development, as research has shown that young adults who participate in state-mandated personal finance courses are less likely to borrow high-interest loans and file for bankruptcy."

Another benefit, Rapunzl continues, is that by helping students to become more financially savvy, their families as well as their communities may benefit. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, there is a positive correlation between people who participate in the stock market and those who are active participants in a sociable community.

While Rapunzl supports the initiative to mandate more financial education courses, it believes that businesses should step in to support teachers. To that end, it is offering its own financial platform that seeks to increase students' understanding of financial matters.

The Solution Created by Rapunzl Investments

Recognizing that investments and proper money management have the potential to increase economic mobility and alleviate social issues afflicting underserved communities, Rapunzl is working to improve the state of financial education in high schools.

Through its free simulated trading platform, the company is addressing the lack of engaging financial education tools offered to students. Similar to programs instituted in New York, Texas, and Arizona, Rapunzl provides a pay-to-learn model in order to incentivize engagement. These prizes are paid out through weekly, monthly, and quarterly competitions with cash and scholarship prizes.

The company says that by incorporating newer generations' interest in social media with free financial education modules that make complex financial topics digestible, Rapunzl can help address the achievement gap plaguing students in the nation's school system.

"We believe that by providing students with our platform, we can increase equitable access to quality financial education tools," Rapunzl states. "We are especially concerned about this because more than 50% of Americans do not have enough money saved for retirement, and those statistics translate into real life issues for millions of families. Education that everyone has access to regardless of where they live or go to school is a big part of the solution."

More About Rapunzl

Brian Curcio and Myles Gage, high school friends who became business partners, founded Rapunzl in college after they saw their peers haphazardly trading stocks and realized that they could benefit from a free platform that educated them about personal finance and investing.

The two men believe that financial education is one of the most effective ways to combat the poverty cycle and that it helps communities build generational wealth. "People need to understand investing before they invest," Curcio states. "Although many commission-free brokerage platforms have made trading more accessible, most fail to educate users on the risks, rewards, and best practices of a successful investor. That is why Rapunzl is important: with our mobile app, we can fill the divide between those who understand personal finance and those who have never covered financial concepts in the classroom."

The Future of Financial Education in American Schools

As record-numbers of retail investors open their first brokerage account, the need for financial literacy remains. At the same time, schools that seek to satisfy state-mandated personal finance courses do so while their educators teach remotely and rely on technology to engage their students. This may be an opportunity for Rapunzl and other platforms to step in.

Although financial illiteracy is not a problem that will disappear anytime soon, companies and educators are increasing their investment in financial education because they have realized their investment has a compounding effect on the community. By teaching students how they can manage their personal finances, schools provide students with pathways and exposure to start thinking and preparing for the future.

As Rapunzl says, "At the end of the day, the goal is to have seven of every seven Americans be financially literate. Only then can all Americans equitably participate in financial markets and the compounding effects of long-term investing."

For more information on Rapunzl Investments and its free simulated trading platform, please visit its website or contact:

Rapunzl Investments
+1-312-618-9956
hello@rapunzl.org

SOURCE: Rapunzl Investments

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