Category Archives: Kids & Money

Crystal O’Connor discusses Money and Kids with Sarah Cook of Raising CEO Kids

Teaching kids business skills early will increase their financial awareness.  As we begin to teach our kids these important lessons about business and money it’s important to take advice from others that have been there and done that with their own kids.  Sarah Cook with Raising Ceo Kids shares tips on raising your own kids to be more self sufficient and money savvy.  Listen to the audio below to our 20  minute conversation and leave a comment sharing your own ideas.  We’d love to hear them!

Feature: Junior Achievement’s efforts to teach kids around the world about business

Feature: Junior Achievement’s efforts to teach kids around the world about business

By Kate Foley, Fearless Ambition


When people think of Junior Achievement, the first thing that comes to mind may be the JA they experienced when they were a kid.

“Their perception that all we do is teach kids how to make lamps and birdhouses,” says Marketing and Media Relations director Stephanie Bell.

However, Bell says, JA has grown substantially in the last 20 years, and is now a global organization that reaches 122 countries in all parts of the world.

Today’s JA offers 24 program in the U.S. alone, covering business concepts like work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

“JA empowers young people to own their economic success,” Bell said. JA’s programs create an online space where teams of kids and teens can create and run a virtual marketing company together. The competitive environment in the online program mimics real business situations, which allows the students to learn what life is like ‘in the real world’.

“Students can understand the relevance to what they learn in the classroom and how it matters to their life. Our programs make that connection for them,” Bell said.

Bell, who has worked for Junior Achievement since 2001, says she feels inspired by teaching students business success at a young age.

“I really enjoy doing something with such a positive impact on young people,” Bell said. “At the risk of sounding cheesy, I hope that will help make the world a better place.”

With its global expansion over the last few decades, JA is definitely working to impact the world. Its current curricula cover six continents. Regional operating centers around the world take U.S. developed programs, and culturally adapt them to other countries to suit their own economic and cultural interests.

For more information on Junior Achievement, or to get involved, visit their website at www.ja.org.

Teach Your Teen Paycheck Savvy

Teach Your Teen Paycheck Savvy

By Linda Stern

From CNN Money Magazine

Congrats! Your kid landed a summer job in this tight, tight economy.

Now, of course, he’ll have that $7.25 an hour burning a hole in his pocket. That’s where you step in: “Parents have a real opportunity to help teens learn to manage that first paycheck,” says Mari Adam, a Boca Raton, Fla., financial adviser. “I can’t think of a better learning experience.” Share some solid financial strategies with your teen now, and your child may even have some cash left over come September.

Have the tax talk

Better explain the harsh realities of gross vs. net before your teen gets any big ideas about what she’ll spend her wages on. She may not yet understand that taxes will be withheld from every paycheck. So sit down with your child to go over that first pay stub, explaining how and why taxes are taken out, as well as the difference between income taxes (which most teens are likely to get back when they file tax returns) and FICA taxes (which they won’t). “This will be a real shock to them,” says Adam.

Take it to the bank

Help your kid open two bank accounts — one savings, one checking. Spend time together comparing fees and rates online, looking specifically for a no-fee checking account meant for teenagers. You’ll have to co-sign the accounts, but it’s worth it so your kid can start learning to use an ATM card and keep his balance in the black. (Just don’t forget to mention the exorbitant costs of using another bank’s ATM.)

Your child may balk at an analog check register but might enjoy tracking expenses online via Mint.com. To motivate him, explain about the $30 overdraft fees the bank will rapidly bestow if he messes up budget calculations. And remind him that at minimum wage, it would take most of a day’s work to recoup that expense.

Share the savings secret

Deferred gratification is an important lesson. Your teen may not be inspired to stash cash for retirement but may be swayed to the savings habit with a near-term goal, like an iPod Touch or a limo for homecoming. Help her do the math so that she’ll know how much to set aside per paycheck to afford her prize by summer’s end. Show her how to have that automatically transferred from checking to savings every pay period. As an incentive, offer to match your child’s contributions.

Avoid micromanaging

Blowing that first paycheck on shoes that will be out of style before the next check arrives is a rite of passage, isn’t it? It’s also a “very good lesson,” says Rob Gordon, a Coconut Grove, Fla., financial adviser. So let kids have space to make spending decisions, even if they’ll end up with buyer’s remorse.

There’s nothing like having wasted your own hard- earned cash to make you more careful with your money next time.

Money-Smart Kids: No money for money education?

Money-Smart Kids

No money for money education?

By Tom Henske

From Westport News Online

Last week — while reading Karen Blumenthal‘s article in The Wall Street Journal, “Is There a Cure for Financial Literacy?” — I was reminded of one of the impediments to improving financial literacy in our country. Citing data from The Jumpstart Coalition, Karen reminds us that only three states currently mandate personal-finance courses. This is certainly too small a number and I have a few hypotheses as to why.

I’m not convinced that I’ve seen a significant nationwide push by educators to mandate such curriculum. Clearly, no one could actually think that mandating personal finance courses in our schools is a bad thing. I would also like to believe everyone would rank money education on the top of the importance list. Let’s face it, everyone — whether they are worth $10 or $10 million — will need to have a foundation of money knowledge. We all need to deal with money in some way, shape or form. In short, money is not a topic that can be avoided or escaped.

A few educators I’ve spoken with shared that they do think it’s a good idea, but the money is just not there to make it happen. I understand the reality of school budgets does not allow for everything to get into the curriculum. My next question would logically follow: should we consider a reallocation of existing dollars to be refocused toward formal financial literacy in our classrooms. I hear the chants now: “Join the club and get in line.”

Maybe we just have a difference of opinion as to where financial literacy falls on the priority list. Certainly English is important; math is vitally important, too. I’d like to think that money-skills should make the top five list. Here’s why…

We know our children are absolutely, positively, without a doubt, going to need to interact with money (save, spend, donate and invest!) in their future — from managing income made at summer jobs to helping pay for college, and in life beyond the classroom. Indeed, there is a higher probability that they will need to use money knowledge more than the skills learned in many of their other classes. I just can’t understand why we wouldn’t be able to find the money, or reallocate money, so that children can walk into their respective colleges and have a basic understanding of their own personal finances.

After further discussion with these educators I think I’ve uncovered part of the challenge. Could it be that educators don’t themselves feel comfortable with their own personal money skills; thus they feel they aren’t in a position to try and teach this to others? We all can certainly appreciate the apprehension to avoid topics we are not comfortable with. Could this be the stumbling block that allows the absurd statistic of only three of 50 states having mandatory money skills curriculum?

I would recommend we simplify things a bit and talk more about the behavioral aspects of managing one’s finances that lead to either success or failure of one’s financial plan. As much as we would like to think the panacea to all financial planning woes is choosing the right “home run” mutual fund, the reality is the most important variable separating success versus failure in the retirement preparation game is one’s propensity to save.

The bottom line: if you save, you’ll accumulate the dollars necessary to enjoy a secure retirement. If not, you will be scrambling to continue to make money so you can live.

Therefore, learning to save (and thus budgeting, a technique which allows you to save) is the key. Clearly this is a concept teachers could get comfortable speaking on and could easily work into numerous lesson plans. By simplifying the subject matter to the concept of saving, we eliminate the concern teachers might be having on the topic and simultaneously teach our children the single most valuable lesson that will be crucial to their financial well-being in the future.

Tom Henske, a Westport resident and partner with Lenox Advisors, a wealth management firm with offices in New York City and Stamford, developed the Lenox Money-Smart Kids Program in conjunction with MassMutal Financial Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

Video: Susan Beacham provides advice on Teens and Money on the Dr. Phil Show

Katie is a teenaged girl who wants a lot, and who expects her parents to foot the bill. She asks for manicures, haircuts and clothes without any thought to the financial cost. Susan Beacham sits down with Katie to discuss her family’s monthly income, and shows her the amount available to spend after mortgage payments, utilities and other bills are taken out of the paycheck.

Kidpreneurs Book Makes the NAPPA Gold Award

Serial entrepreneurs and constant advocates for the fostering of intelligent young minds, the Toren brothers have done something unique with “Kidpreneurs,” by outlining the basic tools and strategies adults use to groom their businesses in a simple, straightforward manner that will allow any child to easily understand.

Throughout the many years that Matthew Toren and his brother Adam Toren have been entrepreneurs, it has been their long standing mission to take their own “tool kit for tomorrow” and pass it forward to as many children as they can. “We are humbled and honored that our book, Kidpreneurs was recently announced as the winner of the NAPPA Gold Award (National Association of Parenting Publications)” says Matthew.

Money Savvy Pig can teach us Adults a few Tricks

Susan Beacham, founder of Money Savvy Generation,  writes books, curriculum and tools for children.  It  helps Parents and Grandparents teach them how to understand money.  She mentions money management as a critical life skill.  Wow, what a concept!  Remember,  our children may not always do what we say but they see what we do!

Lemonade Day: Teaching Kids about Entrepreneurship

Lemonade Day introduces kids to entrepreneurship!  This city-wide event encourages kids to start a lemonade stand and sell their lemonade to the entire community.  Schools, community groups and businesses get involved to make this all happen.  Visit the website and click on your city to get more information and don’t forget to get involved with Lemonade Day!  Teaching critical life skills through entrepreneurship is an investment in our kids’ future as well as our own.  Who ever thought that a Lemonade stand could be so deep rooted in  so many life- long learning lessons.