Study reveals why young voters may be flocking to Bernie Sanders
As young voters embrace Sen. Bernie Sanders' promises of 'free' college and health care, a new study shows only 16 percent of millennials are 'financially literate.'
Chris Burns, a financial planner with Dynamic Money, said Thursday a new report that showed a small percentage of millennials are financially literate may shed light on why young voters are flocking to self-described democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.
“Fox & Friends” host Pete Hegseth cited a report from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA) Institute about how millennials handle their finances. The TIAA Institute report noted that one of the key findings is that only “16 percent of millennials qualify as financially literate by correctly answering three basic questions assessing fundamental financial concepts.”
Burns said the problem is a lack of education. Basic financial literacy might make young voters think twice before supporting Sanders.
Burns expressed concern that without a basic understanding of finance and economics, young voters are drawn to socialism and other far-left ideas.
"We discuss it somewhat in a historical sense with kids, but again we don't get into the practical reality of what has made this the wealthiest country on earth, the best economy in the world, it’s certainly not socialism," he said.
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Hegseth pointed out that Sanders, the Democratic presidential front-runner, has been reeling in support from young voters with the promise of free things, such as college tuition and Medicare-for-All.
“When Bernie constantly says [former New York City Mayor Mike] Bloomberg is buying the election, and that might be fair whatever, but how much is Bernie buying an election when he tells this entire group of people everything is going to be free?” Burns asked, adding that everything Sanders is promising is “incredibly attractive.”
It’s attractive, Burns argued, for millennials to hear that they won’t have to pay for any of the "free" things because “all the wealthy folks" are going to pay for it.
Hegseth then added, “So Bloomberg is buying the election with his own money. Bernie wants to buy the election with all of our money.”
“That's exactly it and it’s a scary trend because honestly again there's just this movement towards, well it’s just going to be the wealthy folks that pay for it,” Burns said.
Burns also pointed out there are “very few states that require any sort of actual financial literacy or basic education.”
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“North Carolina just came out with one of the most sweeping bills on this saying, students have to take at least one class in this area," he said. "But a lot of states don't cover this at all. Or if they do, it’s only one or two weeks in the middle of a segment so kids aren't really learning these things."
Burns was referencing the fact that starting next school year, high school students in North Carolina will be required to take a personal finance class before they can graduate. The state’s Board of Education, at the direction of state lawmakers, approved the change in January, WCNC-TV reported.
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