"Financial literacy is a mess in this country"— Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary slams the absence of financial literacy in schools

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary believes that "financial literacy is a mess" in the US because most schools don't focus on teaching students how to manage money.

In a December 23 Instagram post, O'Leary criticized the education system for not teaching financial literacy in schools. He pointed out that while students are intensely taught about geography and history, important concepts like debts are ignored.

"I think financial literacy is a mess in this country. We don't teach anybody anything in high school, which is crazy. We teach them about s*x, geography and everything else in history, but we don't tell them what debts is? Like, that's nuts," he said.

However, Kevin expressed hope for the future, mentioning that states like Florida, New York, Texas, and California are starting to include financial education in their curriculum.

"So Florida, where I'm living, we've got that in the curriculum now. They're talking about it here in New York, Texas and California. That's about 60% of the educational market. The 110,000 school buildings in America. We should be talking about credit card debt day one," he added.

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Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary explains why financial literacy is lacking in the education system

Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary further shared his thoughts on financial literacy in the December 24, 2020, episode of the Industry Focus podcast. He emphasized the importance of financial literacy while criticizing schools for neglecting it in favor of math and reading.

"I've obviously gotten some notoriety from Shark Tank. About 100 million people see these shows each year. Over time, we've been invited to high schools, it's very popular with young entrepreneurs. One theme keeps coming up over and over and over again, it's financial literacy," he said..

Kevin pointed out that while high school students are taught s*x education, geography, math, and reading, topics like credit cards, debt, and investing are ignored. Neglecting financial literacy during the early years of a person's life often comes back to haunt them in the future.

The Shark Tank investor revealed a concerning statistic: over 100 million Americans have not saved anything for retirement. He expressed alarm that many people, including employees in his own companies, have only two weeks’ worth of cash set aside. He criticized this approach, calling it poor financial planning and far from actual investing.

When the podcast host asked Kevin why the education system doesn't prioritize teaching financial literacy, considering everyone knows how important it is.

Kevin shared that he had spent over a decade working in the educational software industry for schools. Through the process, he found out that their education system focuses on improving reading and math scores by leveraging the testing process, guiding students from early learning stages to college readiness.

"We care more about that than anything else. Because if you score poorly in reading or math, you don't advance through the system. So, all the energy from the teaching focus to all of the software development focuses on that," the Shark Tank investor continued.

He criticized this teaching format, noting that by the age of 18, students often leave school with no practical understanding of money management.

However, Kevin was hopeful about the future, mentioning that some American states like Florida are reevaluating their curriculum to include financial literacy at the high school level.

"Anybody who is involved in financial literacy and that focus is doing a good thing. If I can use my Shark Tank platform and notoriety to get people thinking, including parents about getting their kids set up, I'm doing, for me, an important thing," he concluded.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes air every Friday on ABC.