Many moons ago one of my roommates made minimum payments of $32 USD on his credit card for a year. At the end of that year the principal had been reduced only $30. He was totally mystified, and asked me if I understood how CC worked. I reviewed his statement -- of the $32 payment, $2.50 was principal and the remainder was interest. At that rate, it was going to take 400+ years to pay off the card. [This was before US CC reform.]
I had to explain twice, but he got it. He reviewed his other debts, realized how far in the hole he was (making minimum payments on everything). He was military, got permission to get a part-time civilian job, and retired all his debts in just over a year.
This stuff should be required school work -- I agree, start in middle school and refresh it every other year. Not everyone learn from it, but the wise ones (like my former roomie), will benefit.
