Shabab Haider, Founder of New York based East36 Capital, Inc., is calling on public and private schools to introduce dedicated financial literacy and investment education classes for middle- and high-school students, arguing that young people should learn how to save, invest, evaluate financial opportunities, and manage risk before entering adulthood.
Haider believes that financial education should extend beyond traditional classroom subjects to include practical skills that students can use throughout their lives. With young people increasingly exposed to cryptocurrencies, online trading platforms, and digital financial products, he argues that schools have an opportunity to provide structured education and responsible guidance before students begin making financial decisions independently.
“Schools should prepare students for the financial realities of the world they are about to enter,” said Haider. “We teach young people how to solve equations, understand history, and prepare for careers. We should also teach them how money works, how to build savings, how investments grow over time, and how to recognize the difference between a calculated investment decision and speculation.”
Financial Literacy Should Start Before Adulthood
Haider advocates introducing age-appropriate financial education during middle school and expanding it throughout high school. Topics could include budgeting, saving, compound growth, inflation, investing, credit, debt management, diversification, and the relationship between risk and potential returns.
According to Haider, an early understanding of these concepts can help students develop healthier financial habits, make more informed decisions, and better understand the long-term consequences of spending, borrowing, and investing.
Rather than treating financial literacy as an occasional seminar, he believes schools should consider a dedicated course that combines fundamental financial concepts with practical exercises and real-world case studies.
“Financial education should not begin when a young person receives their first paycheck, takes on student debt, or opens a brokerage account,” Haider said. “It should begin much earlier, when students have the opportunity to learn, ask questions, make mistakes in a safe environment, and develop sound financial habits.”
Bringing Investment Education Into the Classroom
Haider proposes that schools introduce students to the fundamentals of financial markets through structured, supervised learning activities.
Students could use simulated investment accounts, often called paper-trading accounts, to learn how financial markets operate without putting real money at risk. These simulations could allow students to study stocks, exchange-traded funds, cryptocurrencies, and other financial instruments while tracking hypothetical portfolios over time.
Students could also compare different investment strategies, examine historical market performance, and analyze how news, business fundamentals, market sentiment, and economic conditions influence asset prices.
The objective would not be to turn students into professional traders. Instead, the goal would be to help them understand how markets function, how investment decisions should be evaluated, and why protecting capital is as important as pursuing potential returns.
Haider recommends that simulated trading exercises begin with basic investing and portfolio management. More advanced subjects, including short-term trading and the mechanics of leveraged products, should be introduced only when students are developmentally ready to understand the risks involved.
“Students should have the opportunity to learn by doing, but without putting their savings at risk,” Haider explained. “A simulated portfolio can teach them about volatility, losses, patience, diversification, and research. It can also demonstrate why a popular asset is not automatically a good investment.”
Cryptocurrency Education Must Go Beyond the Hype
Cryptocurrencies have introduced a new generation to digital finance, but exposure to these assets does not necessarily mean young people understand their underlying technology, valuation, or risks.
Haider believes schools should address cryptocurrency as part of a broader financial education curriculum, helping students distinguish between blockchain technology, digital assets with identifiable use cases, and speculative tokens driven largely by online attention.
Students could examine how blockchain networks operate, what gives different digital assets their intended utility, how adoption and token economics affect an investment thesis, and why liquidity, security, regulation, and market volatility matter.
The curriculum should also explore meme coins and other highly speculative assets as case studies in market sentiment, hype, and risk—not as recommended investments.
“Students need to understand that a cryptocurrency trending on social media is not necessarily a sound investment,” Haider said. “They should learn to ask fundamental questions: What problem does this project solve? Is the technology being used? Is there meaningful adoption? What are the risks, and what evidence supports the investment thesis?”
He argues that these lessons could help students approach digital assets with a more analytical mindset rather than relying on social media personalities, online speculation, or promises of quick profits.
Teaching the Difference Between Investing and Gambling
A central element of Haider’s proposal is teaching students that investing requires research, a defined objective, an understanding of risk, and a willingness to evaluate evidence.
Students should learn to distinguish long-term investing from short-term trading and understand that neither guarantees a profit. They should also study common behavioral mistakes, including chasing rising prices, panic selling, following unverified advice, and committing too much money to a single asset.
By analyzing historical examples and managing simulated portfolios, students could learn how investment outcomes depend on a combination of business performance, valuation, market conditions, time horizon, and decision-making.
Haider also supports teaching students how to assess investment claims critically, recognize financial scams, protect personal information, and identify unrealistic promises of guaranteed returns.
“Real financial intelligence is not about predicting that every asset will rise,” Haider added. “It is about learning how to evaluate opportunities, understand downside risk, preserve capital, and make decisions based on evidence rather than emotion.”
Preparing Students for the Real Financial World
Haider believes that practical financial education can complement traditional academic subjects by giving students tools they can use immediately and throughout adulthood.
A well-designed program could incorporate household budgeting exercises, savings plans, compound-interest calculations, business case studies, investment simulations, and discussions about careers in finance and financial technology.
Students could finish high school with a stronger understanding of how to manage personal finances, evaluate investment opportunities, and recognize the risks associated with borrowing and speculative trading.
Any such program, Haider emphasizes, should be educational rather than promotional. Schools should not direct students toward particular brokers, exchanges, cryptocurrencies, or investment products. Lessons should remain age-appropriate, impartial, and focused on financial well-being.
“Education should give students the ability to make better decisions for themselves,” Haider said. “If we want young people to become financially responsible adults, we should give them the knowledge and practical experience to understand money before they are expected to manage it on their own.”
A Call for Schools to Take the Lead
East36 Capital encourages educators, school administrators, parents, and policymakers to consider making financial literacy a more substantial part of secondary education.
Haider believes that combining traditional financial principles with carefully supervised simulations and modern digital-finance education could help schools prepare students for a financial landscape that is increasingly shaped by technology and individual responsibility.
The broader objective is not to encourage every student to become an investor or trader. It is to ensure that every student has the opportunity to understand saving, investing, risk, and the financial decisions that will affect their future.
About East36 Capital, Inc.
East36 Capital, Inc. is a New York-based investment and digital-asset consulting firm focused on helping individuals, businesses, and sophisticated investors navigate the evolving digital economy. The firm provides research-driven perspectives on cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, digital-asset infrastructure, and emerging opportunities across financial markets. Its approach emphasizes fundamental and technical research, disciplined decision-making, and risk awareness.
This article expresses a proposed approach to financial education. It does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation for students to trade financial products. Any school-based program should prioritize age-appropriate instruction, financial safety, and simulated practice over the use of real money.