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Friday, April 22, 2011
Managing Money is as easy as 1,2,3
I've been saving this to post it on the blog, because it is amazing (and I apologize for it being a bit of a fluff post). This two minute video discusses how Sesame Street teaches kids about the value of money and the importance of saving, sharing, and spending.
It is simple and innovative. We all continue habits we learned when we were younger (think washing hands, brushing teeth) so why wouldn't this work to teach saving and spending habits to avoid a future financial crisis? Teaching kids not to live beyond their means makes sense to me.
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That's pretty funny, Laura. I suppose every little bit helps when trying to better educate future generations on how to manage their money.
ReplyDeleteThe saving rate in the US is amazingly low. I wonder, after the recent financial crisis, if people in the US will move back to post-great depression savings rates, or rates the parallel that of the Japanese and other countries.
It's amazing how quickly - over the span of a half century - the mindset of an entire country can change.
I think this is a great post, Laura. :) I agree with Dane about the changing mindset of our country. It seems like the majority of our nation could use some re-education about managing their money and spending beyond their means. Hopefully we can instill these values in future generations.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you shared this video. I enjoyed it and I am very glad that Sesame Street is trying to teach children the values of money. Back when I was little there was a character called the Count who could make this a lot of fun, but I think he has been phased out.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the habits we develop as children stick with as for lifetime. I learned about money early on in life which I think is most beneficial. I must have learned pretty early compared to other children because I remember in 1st grade when I was out on the playground, my dollar came out of my pocket when I was putting on my gloves and one of my friends asked me what it was. I was shocked. They didn't realize what money was. When I said "It's money, it's my dollar." They pretty much were like, what's money? and I had to explain to them that you can buy things with it. And that when you save enough change and you get paper bills.
I would think that most kids know what dollar bills look like when they are in first grade but I personally was a saver and was always trading in my change for dollars. I enjoy collecting change and trading it in at the bank. My parents also made me wait until I had all the money to take me to the store to buy whatever I wanted. I thought it was fun to anticipate when I would finally get to go to the store. I think that that anticipation factor multiplied the sweetness of the victory. :)
Is there any anecdotes you have about first learning about money? Or at least being cognizant of it?
All I have to say is, saving is a bitch. All we do in the media is push consumer products and people want all these nice things. And even if you don't need/want all the nice things out there, there are still phone bills and electricity and house payments and insurance that need to be paid monthly. And food is expensive. And on and on. When you take principles of investments, you really learn how hard it is to save, especially when you have kids. Hopefully people can get better at saving, but its going to take a while, definitely.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. I think its a great idea to try to instill good financial practices at a young age. Even if it is a small effort, I think the results could be profound. Fostering savings and intelligent investing can work a long way to establishing and maintaining wealth. These sort of measures would have been wonderful for all generations that are experiencing hardships from the current financial crisis. As current and prospective baby boomers are retiring and they working away from the ideals of saving and fostering spending. There increased consumer confidence could be good for the economy. I just hope that they don't spend away their savings and don't account for rising costs. Medical issues for the elderly would account for a majority of the rising costs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what you guys said. Also I have read in a few places that one of the most effective ways to save is to "pay yourself first", basically take out a chunk of your income to save before you even see your money in your account, like taxes pretty much. This can help with some of the tough discipline issues that come with saving as Michelle pointed out.
ReplyDelete