FOR KIDS
There is a dire need to amplify the quality and quantity of leadership in our country, as it is having a great impact on, not only the present, but more so on future generations. We have developed Financial Literacy Curriculum for Kids beginning at infancy, with a major emphasis on positive sub-conscience development.
To prosper in the new millennium, today's kids need to be a whole lot
smarter about money when they're grown than any previous generation.
Financial rules have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. When
today's parents were kids, you couldn't get a credit card unless you
had a steady job; you expected that job to last for life; and you
didn't have to manage your own retirement funds, which means you didn't
have to sift through all the complex savings instruments now available.
In prior generations, investing was largely the province of the wealthy
and those who aspired to join them. Not anymore. Now that employers are
increasingly shifting responsibility for financing retirement onto
individuals, anyone with half a prayer of living comfortably in her
golden years needs to learn the fundamentals -- and the sooner, the
better.
It's a whole different world. Fortunately, it's well within our power to tilt the odds in your offspring's favor.
The earlier we teach the fundamentals of sound money management, the
more successful children will likely be. As soon as children can talk
and count to 10, they're ready to begin learning the basics of saving,
earning, investing and borrowing. It's critical, once again, to use
very concrete imagery and everyday examples to get the message across
to preschoolers. Then, as children grow older, you can add layers of
sophistication and abstraction to the ideas you're trying to convey to
them.
The greater the variety of experiences that children have in making
consumer decisions, the wiser they become about managing money as an
adult. Awareness is half the battle. The other half is a concerted
effort to engage our children in conversations about money, investing,
and careers, and to involve them in the family's financial decisions
show that they're interested in managing money.
If you think a young child can't possibly understand the ins and outs
of the market, try telling a 6-year-old girl that she can own part of
the company that makes Barbie dolls and observe how her eyes light up.
Then watch her positively twinkle as you explain that the more people
buy Barbie dolls, the more money the company will make, and, as part
owner, the more money she'll be likely to make. The key is to talk to
kids about investing in terms of a company that makes a product or
service they really care about.
Of all the financial skills that children must learn, there is probably
none more important than the art of delaying gratification -- that is,
saving and investing for a long-term goal. It's the skill that will
enable them to achieve their life's dreams when they're grown.
