April 21, 2020

Creating the Next Generation of Financially Literate Citizens | Rob Phelan

42 minutes

Today’s episode features Rob from The Simple Startup.

Rob had an interesting childhood were he got most of his early education in Ireland.

This gave him an opportunity to be exposed to unique learning environments that don’t typically exist in the United States.

Now Rob is leading by example and teaching his own students these valuable lessons of personal finance and entrepreneurship.

He has also taken it one step further by creating a workbook that can spread these lessons to everyone.

Listen, learn, and let us know what you think about Rob’s amazing lessons.

Episode Summary

Rob’s Upbringing

Rob feels like he had a lot of great influences early but didn’t bite on the advice

In his elementary school in Ireland, he was involved in some saving focused programs

About two years ago he started getting involved with teaching financial literacy with younger kids

Rob was born in the United States but was in Ireland most of his life until age 21

He comments that you don’t see the drive for FI in Ireland that he’s seen here

We discuss differences in pension systems and wages between Ireland and America

How Rob Became a Teacher

He had several options to choose from between sports medicine, architecture, and teaching

Rob mostly went with teaching because he got the summer off and he loves getting outdoors

Even the subject he was going to teach just sort of fell into place

Rob actually started teaching in 2014

Taking Money to the Next Level

Rob admits his wife was better with money when they first met

That gap he was noticing drove him to take money more seriously

Within 12 months of marriage, they paid off all of their $20k of debt

After his debt was paid off, he started focusing more on financial independence

Origins of Rob’s Love for Entrepreneurship

Rob’s high school in Ireland offered him a gap year that is all around self-development

His business teacher made them actually start their own businesses

The kids were in charge of the full cycle

Rob says it was basically the Lean Startup Model

Finding something that can be started with resources you already have on hand

That first business was selling baked goods which sold at school

They profited about 500 Euros

The group actually had their own custom stall and custom aprons

Educating the Next Generation of Financially Literate Citizens

Rob asks his students on a skill they’d like to learn but never have

Then he challenges them to learn that skill without his help and prove their mastery of it

Something like changing the oil in a car and creating a YouTube video teaching others to do the same

Then he started a club called The Millionaires Club

This club is fully self-funded without fundraising

They get their money via business they run themselves and can keep 10% of the earnings

As he started building out resources and structures for this he decided he should build a workbook

This workbook is an actionable workbook that’s very interactive and not just something you read

He calls it a how-to guide around starting your first business

It’s really targeting teens and young adults

This workbook covers the full lifecycle

Finding a need, building the business, handling the finances, and pitching it to others

Key Takeaways

The Lessons are versatile: Whether it’s business, personal finance, or responsibility — these type of lessons can apply and improve lives in many areas

Think outside the box: Rob didn’t let what a teacher normally does define what he was going to do with his students and is seeing the results

Call to Action

If there is a young person in your sphere of influence that you can encourage to try a project or a small business, then help push and guide them through that experience. If not, try a self inspection and consider starting up a trial run of a business with extremely low startup costs to see if it’s something you’d like to take further

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Rob’s Information

Robs Website: The Simple Startup

Rob’s Book: The Simple Startup

Learn More About Your Hosts

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

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By Cody Berman and Justin Taylor

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