I’m Sam Irwin. I’m a licensed CPA in Florida and have worked in accounting and finance for over 20 years. And for years, I had no idea how to manage my own money.
I went through years of school, all the way through college at one of New York’s best business schools, worked at a large public accounting firm as an auditor, and nobody ever sat me down and taught me the basics of personal finance. Nobody explained how credit cards actually work, or what compound interest does to debt, or how to build a budget that holds up in real life. I had to figure all of that out on my own, and I made a lot of expensive mistakes along the way.
Eventually I turned things around. But I keep coming back to the same question: why did I have to learn this the hard way? Someone should have taught me. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels that way.
So I started digging. Why isn’t personal finance taught in schools? Who decides what gets included in the curriculum and what gets left out? Who benefits when consumers don’t understand how money works?
That’s what this project is about.
What You’ll Find Here
This isn’t a personal finance blog full of budgeting tips and investment advice. There are plenty of those already.
Instead, I’m investigating the system itself. I want to understand how we ended up with an education system that prepares students for standardized tests but not for the financial decisions they’ll face the moment they graduate.
Here’s what you can expect:
Research and data. I dig into studies from the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Pew Research, and other credible sources to understand what’s actually happening with financial literacy in America.
Investigative reporting. Who sets curriculum standards? What incentives shape what gets taught? Why have reform efforts stalled? I follow the trail wherever it leads.
Real-world consequences. Student loans, credit card debt, the wealth gap — I connect the dots between what schools don’t teach and the problems people face as a result.
My own story. I share the mistakes I made and what I learned from them. Not as a cautionary tale, but because I think it helps to know you’re not alone in figuring this out.
This Is a Community Project
I’m not doing this as a guru with all the answers. I’m doing this as someone who’s asking questions and inviting you to ask them with me.
The Missing Class Project is built around participation. Your experiences matter. Your questions shape what I investigate next. Your perspective helps fill in the gaps that data alone can’t capture.
Here’s how you can be part of it:
Subscribe to get new posts delivered to your inbox. I publish weekly, and subscribers help me know this work is reaching people who care about it.
Leave comments on posts that resonate with you. Share your own story. Push back if you disagree. Ask questions I haven’t thought of yet. The conversation is part of the project.
Share posts with friends, family, or anyone who’s ever wondered why nobody taught them this stuff. The more people involved, the more momentum we build.
I believe this is one of the most important gaps in American education, and I don’t think it’s going to fix itself. But I also believe that when enough people start asking the same questions, things can change.
Thanks for being here. Let’s figure this out together.
— Sam