A Baylor College of Medicine pediatrician just told Texas lawmakers that “high school seniors are legally walking around with Vegas in their pockets.” Lindy McGee was describing prediction-market apps such as Kalshi and Polymarket, where users as young as 18 bet real money on soccer games, elections, and pop-culture outcomes. The Texas Medical Association wants the minimum age raised to 21.
The apps sit in a regulatory gap. The federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversees them, and they aren’t legally classified as gambling. Texas already bans most betting, but a state effort to close the loophole is stalled in a lawsuit the platforms filed themselves.
While I agree that Texas is on the right track, it’s also important to recognize that raising the age for access to these apps isn’t the same as teaching financial literacy.
App regulations don’t teach a teenager what compound interest does to a credit card balance. They don’t explain why a contract priced at 70 cents implies a 70% chance, or how “the house” always has the long-term edge that dominates individual bettors every time. The Texas ban limits access without fixing the knowledge gap.
The financial literacy gap
The topic of financial literacy is close to my heart, given that I’ve been working with a team at Western Washington University to build an AI application called FinPrep for teachers and schools to instantly build financial literacy lesson plans.
A Junior Achievement and MissionSquare Foundation report found that 80% of teens have never heard of a FICO credit score. Meanwhile, 43% think an 18% interest rate is manageable.
Teaching financial literacy skills pays off in ways a ban never can. A 2024 study by consulting firm Tyton Partners and Next Gen Personal Finance found that one semester of high school personal finance produces a lifetime benefit of roughly $100,000 per student.
About 30 states now guarantee such a course, up from eight in 2020. Outside those states, fewer than one in 10 students get any financial education before they graduate. A parent, mentor, or manager at work can help by teaching the core ideas of how interest compounds, how odds really work, and why the house always wins over time.
Young workers who are financially literate act like owners
Anyone who understands the basics of financial literacy will understand why it’s important to save money, be more efficient, invest wisely, and reduce costs where they can. That makes for a good employee who acts like an owner.
The fix in the workplace is the same: Dedicate time and resources to teaching the skill.
Amazon committed $1.2 billion to its Upskilling 2025 program to train 300,000 U.S. employees. IBM pledged in 2023 to train 2 million workers in artificial intelligence skills by the end of 2026. Both companies are building capability before expecting people to know what to do, so the tools pay off.
Underneath the betting-app fight is a bigger story about how we prepare young people for managing money and for the work world.
This week
Pick one young person you’re responsible for—your own teenager or your newest hire—and name the single financial skill they’ll need to be successful. Then spend 20 minutes this week teaching it—the way you wish someone had taught you.
—Soren Kaplan
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This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com.
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