>>Many people who do not suffer math phobia live lives where advanced mathematics is rarely, if ever, needed. These people "can do math" but simply find little practical need for it. If their lives are no worse in the absence of serious mathematics, I see no reason to intervene.
This is highly debatable. We had an economic meltdown just a few years ago, and one of the (many) reasons for it was that people were taking loans that they could not afford to pay off later, given their income, assets and expenses. Many of those people were victims of predatory lending because their math knowledge was so poor.
Commenters in this thread might not think compound interest is advanced mathematics. But you're right, the majority don't have enough confidence in maths to attempt basic finanicial planning, and this is an issue for society.
This is highly debatable. We had an economic meltdown just a few years ago, and one of the (many) reasons for it was that people were taking loans that they could not afford to pay off later, given their income, assets and expenses. Many of those people were victims of predatory lending because their math knowledge was so poor.