Sam Irwin, CPA

In 2024, my son Matthew graduated from an A-rated high school in Central Florida. He’s smart and hardworking, headed to the University of Central Florida to study finance and accounting. He never took a class on how money works. Twenty-six years earlier, I graduated from a different high school in a different state. I also … Read more

My parents were immigrants. They came to this country and worked hard to build a life for our family of four brothers. In the 1990s, my dad was the primary breadwinner, working as a diesel truck engineer. My mom worked at a pharmaceutical company in their packaging department. They stretched every dollar. Groceries for a … Read more

Here’s something I didn’t know until recently: the federal government actually has an official body dedicated to improving financial literacy in America. It’s called the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, or FLEC. It was established by Congress in 2003. It’s chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau … Read more

We’re in the middle of a financial literacy revolution in American high schools. As of late 2025, 30 states now require a standalone personal finance course for graduation. That’s up from just six states in 2019. Real progress. Much of this momentum comes from organizations like Next Gen Personal Finance. Their Mission 2030 campaign has … Read more

When I graduated from high school in the early 1990s, I had never heard the term “compound interest” explained in a classroom. I didn’t know how credit cards actually worked. No one walked me through what a lease agreement meant or why an emergency fund mattered. Thirty years later, my sons are in a different … Read more

When I sat in my high school classroom in the mid-1990s, I didn’t think much about why I was learning what I was learning. English, math, history, science—these felt like givens, as natural and inevitable as the building itself. Of course this is what school teaches. What else would it be? It wasn’t until much … Read more

In 1998, I graduated from high school without any idea how to manage money. No one had taught me how credit worked. I didn’t understand interest rates or what compound interest could do to a balance I let sit. I had no concept of budgeting, no framework for distinguishing between what I needed and what … Read more

Every American high school student learns the quadratic formula. They can label the parts of a cell. They know the causes of World War I and can identify the major themes in The Great Gatsby. These aren’t optional. They’re required—tested, graded, and treated as essential markers of an educated person. But ask those same students how … Read more

I have letters after my name. CPA, or Certified Public Accountant. I’ve held that license in influential corporate finance roles for many years. I’ve worked at one of the largest accounting firms in the world, at an investment bank in New York and London, and at two of the largest insurance companies in the world. … Read more

There’s a seven-year window in most people’s lives when they make more consequential financial decisions than they’ll make in any other period. It runs roughly from age 18 to 25. During those seven years, you’ll decide whether to take out student loans and how much to borrow. You’ll get your first real job and see … Read more