Bruce Waller is a 25-year classroom veteran who's spent most of his career teaching German and French. Now, he's halfway through his second semester teaching Personal Finance at Aloha High School, a 1,600-student comprehensive school in the Beaverton School District just outside Portland. Read Bruce's take on how his first year teaching Personal Finance has gone.

What makes you passionate about personal finance education?

I wrote in my syllabus, “I’m teaching Personal Finance to make your life easier.”  

I flinch every time I see someone making poor financial decisions. Teaching Personal Finance gives me a forum to help people learn how to best use the money they have.  

What is one of your earliest money memories?  

I remember thinking $100 was a huge amount of money, and could imagine that only someone like Patty Hearst might have that kind of money. That illusion was shattered by seeing a television commercial for furniture that actually mentioned prices.

What do you like about NGPF PD? And what have been some of your favorite classes or topics?

I love the NGPF Speaker series, as well as other series where guest speakers join for several sessions, such as Patrick Geddes on Investing and Mark Salisbury on College Pricing and Admissions.

The Tax Resources for Tax Season Virtual PD gave me the opportunity to learn from other teachers’ trial and error and hear their experienced suggestions before I even taught the content for the first time.

Editor's note: The series with both Patrick Geddes and Mark Salisbury were recorded and are available as podcasts here.  

Can you provide an example of how a lesson taught in class helped a student and/or someone in their family make a better money decision?

During my first semester of teaching Personal Finance, a student walked into class one day and said, “Mr. Waller, I don’t think I have enough money to budget.” 

My response was that we budget every penny we have, but we may not realize it. 

Several students have said that they remember my quote when they are figuring out what to do with their budgets. “Set up your own emergency fund so you can borrow from yourself and don’t have to ask anyone else.”

How has being part of the NGPF network helped you personally? Professionally?

Personally and professionally, the sessions on passive investing with Patrick Geddes have really built my confidence talking about the subject of investing in index funds for the very long term. My new habit is to tell everyone about the impact of fees on their investment portfolios.

Professionally, working through a handful of On-Demand modules and attending a variety of Virtual PD sessions have expanded my knowledge. Interacting with other experienced teachers has raised my comfort level by letting me “listen in” on someone else’s trials, errors, and improvements.

What advice do you have for other personal finance teachers? 

Think of the NGPF Speaker Series and other Virtual PD as interactive podcasts. I don’t think of them as extra work, but rather a chance to interact with really bright adults after I’m done teaching for the day.

Is there anything else about you, your school, or your personal finance journey that you would like us to know?

I worked for MANY summers up in Alaska, at a fish cannery that eventually offered a 401k. By working many summers up there, and by working as a graduate teaching fellow, I was able to avoid student loans. I can attest to students the value of avoiding unnecessary debt and of compound interest / income over time.

Regarding the school I work at, the campus sits in an interesting pocket of Oregon: tucked between the "Silicon Forest"—home to tech giants like Intel and NVIDIA (whose CEO Jensen Huang is an Aloha alum)—and Nike's world headquarters to the north. Despite the high-profile neighbors and the occasional donation of used office equipment, most higher-earning families in the district live elsewhere, which makes the new state financial literacy requirement feel especially relevant.

About the Author

Hannah Rael

As NGPF's Marketing Communications Manager, Hannah (she/her) helps spread the word about NGPF's mission to improve the financial lives of the next generation of Americans.

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