The sad truth is many folks are afraid of investing. Much of the financial services industry is built off this. How many financial advisor offices do you see around? Instead of educating themselves, they'd rather pay a "professional" who often does no better than they'd do themselves if they just stuck to simple index funds.

> they don't understand them and view them as very risky investments.

which is a shame. Stocks (or owning businesses in general) is the real way to get out of the rat race.

I wish that financial education is part of the standard school curriculum. Financial education such as what stocks are, what bonds are, and how do you "save" money and budget, and what it means to invest and what risks "mean" etc

Most people are scared of stocks because they think it's "risky" - they'll lose all their money if the company bankrupts.

While that's true, the other factors not considered is inflation risk (of bonds or, of bank savings account). The risk of not investing for the long term is just as bad.