How much of what we learned in school do we actually use in the real world? Turns out...not very much.

A new survey of 2,000 Americans found that most of us think our time would have been better spent learning more practical skills in high school. 89% of those surveyed agreed that life would be a lot easier for them now had they learned more real-world skills instead of the "traditional" curriculum.

To that end, the average American says they don’t actually grasp "adult" life skills until the age of 29. Here are the top skills we wish we'd known more about at an earlier age--not surprisingly, most have to do with financial literacy:

  1. Budgeting & money management
  2. How to do taxes
  3. Managing mental/emotional health
  4. Understanding credit cards & student loans
  5. How to negotiate.

As for the most useless information we were forced to learn?

  1. The Pythagorean Theorem to find the dimensions of a triangle (A² + B² = C²)
  2. Knowing that Pi is 3.14
  3. Memorizing the periodic table of elements (Noble gases? Seriously?)
  4. The difference between sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks
  5. Learning the different parts of an atom (protons, electrons, neutrons)

Check out the complete list here.

Agree? Disagree? Have any other skills you wish you'd been taught? Comment below!

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