While a majority of high school students will not have to worry about filing taxes this year, Turlock Unified School District offers courses in financial literacy to help give them the tools they need in the coming years.

“TUSD students have opportunities to learn about financial literacy in multiple courses at the secondary level, including College & Career Seminar, Business & Finance and Economics,” said communications coordinator Marie Russell. “Topics covered include income tax basics, banking, credit/debit cards, interest rates and investments.”

The district providing these courses to students is not required, because there is no mandate by the state of California to have personal finance courses in secondary schools. Learning to make responsible financial decisions can help students not hardships as they become adults.

One study, by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, compared three mandate states with three that don’t require the coursework found that credit outcomes improved in the mandate states. Three years after education was implemented in Georgia, Idaho and Texas, all three states saw a reduction in severe delinquency rates and saw their credit scores rise.

According to the federal reserve, every two of three families lack any type of emergency savings; 78 percent of adults live paycheck to paycheck; and three in five adults do not maintain a monthly budget.

Also, U.S. adults on average only answer 50 percent of questions correctly on the TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index, which annually assesses financial literacy among U.S. adults.

Financial experts stress that there is a lot of research to suggest that early teachings of financial literacy lead to students feeling better about their financial decisions in the future. According to a study by the Institute for Research on Poverty, financial education reduces the likelihood of using payday loans among young adults. It is positively correlated with asset accumulation by age 25, according to a study by Brookings Economics Study.