How Adam Smith Helps Me Teach Modern personal finance is often treated as a series of math or financial products problems, yet the primary obstacle to wealth is not a lack of calculus but a lack of self-command. By integrating the eighteenth-century moral philosophy of Adam Smith into our curriculum, we provide students with the psychological framework necessary to bridge the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. This article explores how we use Smith’s insig

The Real Input to Wealth: Time and Attention As a personal finance professor and the president of Personal Finance Reimagined, I'm constantly discussing wealth generation. It's the "output" we all strive for, but the conversation around it, particularly concerning wealth inequality, often misses the mark. It focuses too heavily on the outcome and not enough on the fundamental inputs driving the entire system. Every four years, the Federal Reserve releases its massive study on

When Professor Daryl Wieland stepped into the classroom at George Mason University this spring, it was his first time teaching personal...

In an era of information overload and artificial intelligence, decision-making is the skill that shapes a lifetime of wealth. As our semester comes to a close at James Madison University, I find myself filled with gratitude—not just for another successful term, but for the opportunity to work with students who are eager to understand the world and shape their place in it. Few things are more meaningful than helping young people build the tools and confidence to achieve a lif