{"id":561182,"date":"2026-05-01T20:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T20:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/561182\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T20:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T20:27:12","slug":"scott-bessent-on-financial-literacy-it-drives-me-crazy-to-see-young-men-in-blue-collar-construction-jobs-playing-the-lottery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/561182\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Bessent on financial literacy: ‘it drives me crazy’ to see young men in blue-collar construction jobs playing the lottery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent<\/a>\u00a0winces at the allure of easy money \u2014 whether it\u2019s lottery tickets,\u00a0buy now, pay later loans<\/a>\u00a0or the promise of a crypto windfall \u2014 warning that the get-rich-quick mindset often leads Americans farther from financial stability, not closer to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of young people, mostly young men, going to blue-collar construction jobs, playing the lottery. It drives me crazy,\u201d Bessent said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe best thing you can do is not play the lottery,\u201d he said \u2014 rather, people should invest and \u201cthen watch it grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bessent spoke to The Associated Press about the basics of building a workable budget and saving for the future at the tail end of Financial Literacy Month, an initiative the billionaire hedge fund manager has made a priority since joining President Donald Trump\u2019s administration, driven by a childhood marred by poverty.<\/p>\n

Former Treasury Secretaries Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner were known for helping navigate the U.S. out of the global financial crisis.\u00a0Steven Mnuchin<\/a>\u00a0made his mark designing and promoting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and\u00a0Janet Yellen<\/a>\u00a0was the only person to also head the Federal Reserve and the Council of Economic Advisers. But Bessent\u2019s passion for meeting with community bankers, retirees and schoolchildren to talk about how to budget, save and manage debt is what he hopes, in part, defines his legacy.<\/p>\n

His push to promote financial literacy comes as Americans grapple with the cost of housing, groceries, energy and everyday items and are skeptical about the Republican administration\u2019s performance on the issue.\u00a0The latest AP-NORC poll data<\/a>\u00a0shows Trump\u2019s approval rating on the economy dropped from 38% in March to 30% in April.<\/p>\n

The nation is enmeshed in record levels of debt, which\u00a0surpassed $39 trillion in March<\/a>, and critics wonder how Bessent can persuade Americans to save for their futures when\u00a0the government itself is drowning in debt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration in particular has a problematic record on cutting taxes without offsets and growing spending,\u201d said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.<\/p>\n

A billionaire with humble beginnings<\/p>\n

Bessent, 63, made his money through a long career in hedge funds, including working with\u00a0George Soros<\/a>, a financier and philanthropist whom\u00a0Trump and other Republicans have vilified<\/a>. Bessent was famously involved in the Soros firm\u2019s 1992 currency speculation against the British pound tied to Black Wednesday, which generated massive profits. Bessent later launched his own hedge fund called the Key Square Group.<\/p>\n

But he often talks about his humble beginnings in rural South Carolina, not far from Myrtle Beach, where at the age of 9 he got his first jobs as a busboy at a cafeteria and hustling to set up chairs and umbrellas on the beach. His father, a real estate developer, had lost generations of Bessent family wealth by overleveraging his obligations.<\/p>\n

Bessent wanted to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in 1979 but was barred as an openly gay applicant. That also shut the door to joining the foreign service.<\/p>\n

He went to Yale University, where his former professor David Darst recalled teaching him about new financial instruments in capital markets. Darst described Bessent as a \u201cguy who\u2019s working at the highest levels, but he\u2019s interested in people learning the ABCs of finance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025, Bessent became the nation\u2019s first openly gay treasury secretary. \u201cI sit here knowing that President Trump chose me because he believes I\u2019m the best candidate, not because of my sexual preference, not because treasury secretaries with green eyes do better,\u201d Bessent said at\u00a0his confirmation hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After reaching public office, one of Bessent\u2019s first actions was relaunching Financial Literacy Month at the agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWall Street has grown wealthier than ever before, and it can continue to grow and do well,\u201d Bessent has peppered into various speeches over the past year, insisting that his work in the Trump administration is \u201cfocused on Main Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a roundtable with community financial institutions at the department \u2014 one of several such events Bessent hosted last month \u2014 he listened to bankers express concerns about the a surge in sophisticated fraud schemes targeting customers and their efforts to get high schoolers interested in saving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be as simple as a 14-year-old starting a savings account and watching interest compound at 4% a year,\u201d said Thomas Fraser, CEO of First Mutual Holding Co. in Lakewood, Ohio, who attended that roundtable.<\/p>\n

Promoting financial literacy to young people<\/p>\n

Bessent is not a newcomer to preaching financial literacy. Geoff Canada, president of Harlem Children\u2019s Zone, has known Bessent for 30 years and said the treasury secretary has mentored one of the program\u2019s scholars for more than a decade. Canada said Bessent has a \u201cdeep understanding that financial literacy is essential for fostering real social and economic mobility for America\u2019s children.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Bessent \u201chas championed this issue long before joining the administration, and I know it remains a top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

A conversation with Bessent about financial literacy inevitably turns to\u00a0Trump Accounts<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the financial vehicle meant to give $1,000 to babies born during the Trump administration. That money is then invested in the stock market by private firms, and the\u00a0children can access the money<\/a>\u00a0when they turn 18.<\/p>\n

Bessent said he thinks it will encourage a generation of young people to care more about investing as it shows them \u201cthe power of compounding, because that money is locked up for 18 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Bessent said people of all ages and income brackets could be better at managing their money. \u201cThere\u2019s a narrative that doctors are famously terrible at finance,\u201d Bessent said.<\/p>\n

Critics of the treasury secretary\u2019s approach argue that the problem is less about Americans not knowing how to invest and more about people not having enough spare income to do so, as\u00a0the cost of living<\/a>\u00a0has steadily increased and\u00a0the war in Iran<\/a>\u00a0has driven energy prices higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot preach penny-pinching while making it harder for Americans to pay their grocery, utility and healthcare bills,\u201d said Emily DiVito, senior adviser for economic policy at the left-leaning Groundwork Collaborative. \u201cIf Secretary Bessent is serious about advancing financial literacy, he should focus on lowering the cost of living for working families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rising debt in the foreground<\/p>\n

Bessent\u2019s desire to see Americans invest wisely comes as the U.S. debt has reached record levels \u2014 and the trajectory of those increases is a cause for concern for budgeting experts.<\/p>\n

The U.S. national debt hit\u00a0$37 trillion<\/a>\u00a0in August and then\u00a0$38 trillion<\/a>\u00a0just two months later. Now, it\u2019s at\u00a0$39 trillion<\/a>\u00a0and has surpassed the size of the economy.<\/p>\n

Budget advocate MacGuineas warned that the long-term trend of borrowing more and paying more in interest will force Americans to face tougher fiscal tradeoffs ahead.<\/p>\n

She praised Bessent for having the goal to cut deficits in half and bring them down to 3% of gross domestic product but said \u201dit\u2019s going to take a combination of spending reductions, revenue increases and economic growth\u201d to get there.<\/p>\n

The Treasury argues that the federal deficit decreased during Trump\u2019s first year back in office and that the provisions in\u00a0Republicans\u2019 tax cuts law<\/a>\u00a0have put money back in Americans\u2019 pockets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to disagree with the fact that we need more financial literacy in this country,\u201d MacGuineas said. \u201cThe bigger picture, of course, is that we should also probably give a financial literacy class to our lawmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent\u00a0winces at the allure of easy money \u2014 whether it\u2019s lottery tickets,\u00a0buy now, pay later…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,9599,16065,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-561182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-financial-literacy","tag-scott-bessent","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}