They do not teach you how to complete your taxes.
They don’t teach you or touch base on anything to do with a mortgage.
They don’t teach you how to understand investments or creating a budget on a specific income.
They don’t teach you about how important good credit is, how important it is to stay on top of payments or what will have an impact on your credit.
I am a high school student, going into grade 12 this year. For the 2 months of summer, I had the chance to work with Amy Coburn in her office. Going into this summer job I had no background information on lines of credit, how to do your taxes, what credit is and how some things will have an impact on it. I didn’t know what a co-signor was or what they did and I did not know what a mortgage was.
High schools don’t teach you about credit, banking, co-signors, taxes or mortgages.
Having the chance to work with Amy has taught me what credit is and why it is important to maintain good credit. I have learned what a co-signor is and what their roll is. I have learned how important it is to stay on top of payments to make sure you keep good credit, managing on a budget and cashflow. I have also learned what a mortgage is.
Credit is a score you have that pretty much shows your credibility. In my perspective, people with good credit scores are more likely to get a loan or are trusted when it comes to certain things. The lower your score, the less people trust you and the less chances you have on getting the things you want. This is because somewhere down the line you messed up or didn’t make a payment on time, or at all. A credit score helps you get houses and cars. I wish my high school and other high schools actually taught you about credit and how to keep it at a good score, rather than just expecting you to go off after you graduate and know how to keep good credit or even know what credit is.
A co-signor is someone who will sign on a house you have purchased or that you are purchasing. Their responsibility is to keep the payments on the house up to date if you (the buyer/owner) miss them or can’t pay it at that time. If both you and the co-signor miss payments both of your credits can be hurt. A co-signor may be used if the buyer does not have credit or has very weak credit; meaning the buyer may be young and doesn’t have enough on their report to show if they can keep up on the payments or if the buyer has messed up their credit and are trying to get it fixed.
I learned that a mortgage is put in place when someone can not afford to just buy a house with savings. A mortgage is when a bank (or other lender) lends you the money to purchase your house and you pay the bank back. A mortgage is placed on a home and has a time frame until it is paid off.
A mortgage is something that helps many, many people afford to purchase a house.
I wish high schools would teach you about mortgages so you have an idea that there is still a way to buy a home you want rather than just thinking that because you don’t have all the money for a house at once that you can’t buy a home.
I am lucky to have had this opportunity to work with Amy and learn all this information that should really be taught in school.