Being smart about money is challenging in a cyber-powered world that invites us to simply click, spend and receive. Heck, Amazon has come up with a program that will anticipate what you will purchase and ships packages before the order is even placed. This is to me is an interesting concept; it makes me think as consumers we will need to be even more vigilant. I am reminded of shopping with young children who put things into the grocery cart we didn’t know we wanted to purchase.
Marie Hall is the Executive Director of BeMoneySmartUSA, a non-profit headquartered in Carmichael dedicated to financial literacy, job skills training, and employment for youth. She and her husband Don are concerned that our children are learning the wrong lessons from the “too big to fail” housing loan crisis of 2008, and that the fall out of the corrupt practices and the anemic economic recovery leaves children feeling hopeless about their own future and capacity to prosper.
“Our children need to understand that they have the power to prosper. Financial literacy is not about money,” she said. “It is about recognizing that who you are influences how you see the world, and your world view determines your own decisions that affect your financial future.”
Hall teaches youth with real world, achievable examples. “When we start having conversations about saving just a little bit of money, every week and the impact of compound interest then you can see the ‘light bulbs’ go off when young minds get it,” Hall said. “When I explain that saving $25 per week now will enable them to have over one million dollars when they retire, it is possible for them to conceive of their own wealth.”
Check out this wealth generation app: register your child for BeMoneySmartUSA financial literacy training and employment at the Farmer’s Markets.
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