Algebra is incredibly important, because it teaches students to manipulate truths using symbols. It is a tool which improves thought.
My dad didn't graduate high school and even he knew enough algebra to work out how much money he needed a month for cigarettes (until he eventually quit once he really thought about the numbers).
Using a credit card isn't very abstract.
You only have to use the concrete specific values in your situation, and not solve some generality.
Moreover, I don't think I had to ever square anything, let alone, cube, when reckoning over credit card transactions. Or find the roots of a polynomial, or do anything with polynomials.
I'm not saying that the intuitions gained from algebra are not relevant, mind you.
To use a credit card responsibly you need to understand the concept of exponential growth, or you might accidentally turn a manageable $500 debt into a burdensome $5000 debt. Same goes for understanding good debt (mortgages) vs bad debt.
It might not be solving a polynomial per se, but I don't see how you get to understanding exponential equations without at least understanding algebra.
There are many examples of lottery winners, athletes, and celebrities who came across considerable resources yet still went broke because they didn't understand how to manage it or the concept of exponential growth.
A fool and his money are easily parted, as the saying goes. People who don't have financial literacy will lose their money over and over again regardless of how much you give them.
You are also picking a category of people that come across enough resources that make them a target to plenty of others. Such that it is almost an adversarial game, at that point.
Evidence shows that having an excess of resources actually leads to more financial irresponsibly, not less. Or as the Illustrious Notorious B.I.G. eloquently put it: "mo money, mo problems":
"The CFP Board of Standards says nearly one-third of lottery winners eventually declare bankruptcy, and lottery winners are more likely to declare bankruptcy within three to five years than the average American."
https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-th....
That is to say, yes, you have to rack up some bad debts in order to declare bankruptcy. The kind of debts that just aren't possible for most people.
And this is ignoring the selection bias that almost certainly exists here. Buying a lottery ticket is, basically by definition, not a savvy financial move. That it basically works out for 2/3rds of the people that do it speaks to the power of additional resources. :D
I don't spend money I don't have.
It's really simple math this way.
Exponential growth is a fundamental concept of financial literacy. If you want to invest in the stock market or plan your 401k it helps to understand exponential growth. The reason why it's impossible to get rich off a wage is because of the difference between exponential vs linear growth.
>I don't spend money I don't have.
You've never taken out a mortgage or opened a margin account? Plenty of responsible people make money by spending money they don't have every day.
People without that intuition are surprised at how fast the little charges added up to an unexpectedly large sum.
But I only spent a hundred here or there; how did it blow past $4700?
This is basic human frailty and completely orthogonal to mathematical ability.
Mathematics is not some magical piece of knowledge that needs all sorts machinations to teach. Like any subject, it should be moved away from rote teaching and into projects and applications rather than mindnumbing exercises.
There is probably no need to delay studying some combinatorics before algebra, but at some point, you need the algebraic background.