Financial Literacy Month - A Good Time to Have 'the Talk' with Your Teen About Money
April is Financial Literacy Month and the Illinois CPA Society thinks it's a great time to start talking about money with your teen. The recent results of the Junior Achievement and the Allstate Foundation's "Teen and Personal Finance Survey" suggest that teens need to be more financially aware. The survey shows that 86 percent of teens think they will be as financially set or better off than their parents even though many teens have little to no interest in money management. The Illinois CPA Society recommends that parents communicate about family finances with their teens, encourage teens to take responsibility for their own purchases, act as a financial role model, provide positive reinforcement, and educate themselves, so they can effectively educate their families.
US Department of Treasury and US Department of Education
National Financial Capability Challenge: www.challenge.treas.gov
It's Online! It's Free! It's Fun!
Build your financial literacy by participating in the National Financial Capability Challenge. In December 2009, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the challenge to help get the economy back on track. This initiative also attempts to ensure our youth gets the financial education they need to help them take responsibility for their financial futures.
The goal is to recruit one million high school students to take the Challenge, which includes a voluntary online exam, by April 9, 2010. To make that happen, thousands of educators from across the country need to register and get their students prepared. Encourage your local high school teachers and educators to sign up for the Challenge at http://challenge.treas.gov/index.htm
A Shout Out!
Fabian Fernandez, winner of the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) Financial Future Challenge, a national competiiton to encourage students to teach their peers about financial literacy rang the bell at the NYSE on January 11th, 2010!
Earn + Allowance = Save + Invest + Spend + Give
Earn "Our Lemonade Stand"
Earn money with a job or like all successful companies at one point, strike out on your own and become an entrepreneur. It can be as easy as opening a lemonade stand!
Step 1: Put out a table
Step 2: Buy some lemonade and cups
Step 3: Charge enough to cover your costs, and the rest is your profit.
See how one girl’s lemonade stand resulted in $25 million in cancer research dollars though the organization Alex's Lemonade Stand. Check out our Video Challenge below and let us know what you’ll do with the results of your earnings.
Allow Me
Tennesse Saves is a statewide project to advance financial literacy. They hosted a Piggy Bank Pageant last Saturday at the Dyersburg Mall. Children, from preschool through twelfth grade, were encouraged to build piggy banks that reflected them. The idea was to provide an opportunity for families to begin helping their children make choices about allowances and contributions to fundraisers. During the event, area banks taught the children about saving. Winners received a $50 savings bond.
If you are not receiving one – ask for it! It’s great for hands-on, financial decision-making life lessons. The current rule of thumb is an allowance sized to half your age, so $6 for a 12 year old for example, depending on where you live and affordability. If it wasn’t already a great idea, some experts believe there should be no strings attached such as chores. Take a look at School House Rock’s video $7.50 Once a Week which explains the purpose of an allowance and the related spending issues once you received it to help build your case.
Save Me
You started with a piggy bank, moved up to a bank savings account so now take the next step and play around on the interest calculator at EconEdLink. With three inputs: the amount of monthly savings, the starting age of savings and an interest rate you will be estimating how soon you will reach independent millionaire status.
Ekomini.com, the world’s first and only interactive piggy bank launched across the United States on Feburary 10, 2010 after a very successful 2009 launch in Canada. It helps teach children about saving money, today officially launched across the United States after a very successful 2009 launch in Canada.
The Ekomini electronic piggy bank and online financial game teaches children ages six to 12 the basics of spending, savings, investing and sharing. A dynamic next generation money box scans and counts money so children can track how much they have and use online tools to learn how to budget. The bank connects to their computer via USB.
How to Teach Kids Money Matters
The ASPIRE Act was introduced in late February 2010. ASPIRE stands for The America Saving for Personal Investment, Retirement and Education Act of 2009. Each child born after December 31, 2009 would have a Lifetime Savings Account automatically opened for them with a one-time $500 contribution. There are additional savings incentives as well. The hope is to create a system that promotes financial literacy among children. Research shows that the traditional forms of financial education are not very successful.
http://assets.newamerica.net/blogposts/2010/how_to_teach_kids_money_matters-28208
Invest: The Hand Off!
Quicksilver. Nike. Crocs. Six Flags. If you are ready for your first taste of investing, support your favorite brands and stake a claim in their profitability and longevity. With www.oneshare.com, pick a company you wish to put your money behind and receive the stock certificate to demonstrate your equity investment.
I’m Spent
Enter the virtual reality of www.minyanland.com and immediately receive responsibility for $50,000 in imaginary liquid assets with the ability to earn more. Similar in look and feel to Webkin WorldÓ and Club PenguinÓ, earn money through “jobs” and bank the results to spend and invest as you see fit.
Give It Up
What’s your favorite charity? Log on to Network for Good and create a personalized charity badge that attaches to the bottom of your email informing all your friends of your favorite cause. The badge even tracks how much folks contribute based on your shout out!
Recess and Rock On!
Take a break and check out a couple more School House Rocks’ money tunes and learn something at the same time.
Walking’ on Wall Street shows the purchase process of one share of stock.
Where the Money Grows lets you see how kids help the family budget.
Dollars and Sense explains the interest received for depositing money with a bank.
This for That discusses how exchange of goods evolved into the modern monetary system.
The Check’s in the Mail traces life of one check once it is written.