NGPF Podcast

What follows is a summary of the Investing panel discussion held at the NGPF Summit in mid-March 2019 in San Francisco. The all-star panel included Bill Bernstein, financial theorist, neurologist, and financial adviser/author, and Jonathan Clements, WSJ columnist, author, educator and blogger at the HumbleDollar.com.

After a successful 12-year NBA career, Troy Murphy went back to school, earned his degree and is now starting a financial advisory firm. Why? To teach those lucky few who experience sudden wealth to manage their money effectively, from establishing a spending plan to creating model portfolios with low-cost index funds. Troy shares how he managed his first professional contract, some of the highlights of his NBA career and what motivated him to start his new firm. Troy describes the unique structure of his firm and how he plans to use ALL of the profits that it generates. Enjoy! 

Ignacio Aguirre is on a mission to use his creative talents to build games that teach young people about money. In this podcast, Ignacio shares his entrepreneurial journey, the inspiration for his "big idea" and how his start-up combines three of his interests. You will also hear how he uses his time with students to gather feedback so he can continuously iterate on his games. Enjoy!

As Senior Director of Education and Outreach, Merve leads Common Sense Education's efforts to improve digital citizenship for students in the tens of thousands of schools they serve. He describes the resources that Common Sense provides to support educators in this area and others, including a robust set of edtech reviews. On a personal note, Merve shares the story of this father's entrepreneurial journey which inspired him while also developing his work ethic. Enjoy!

Details:

• 0:00~1:27 Introduction
• 1:27~2:17 Merve’s role at Common Sense Media
• 2:17~7:14 Early money lessons
• 7:14~10:34 What Common Sense Education does
• 10:34~15:56 Approach to teaching digital citizenship
• 15:56~18:00 Who uses the curriculum?
• 18:00~21:30 Algorithms behind what we see online
• 21:30~24:03 Media and the brain
• 24:03~24:26 A word from NGPF
• 24:26~26:43 The feeling of “FOMO”
• 26:43~30:22 What is Digital Bytes?
• 30:22~36:15 EdTech reviews and resources
• 36:15~43:51 How Common Sense Education helps teachers
• 43:51~46:14 Why digital citizenship matters
• 46:14~47:31 Conclusion  

Resources:

• Common Sense Media
• Common Sense Education
• Truth About Tech
• Digital Bytes
• EdTech Reviews and Resources
• Firefox Lightbeam

Quotes:

• “Media and technology are not going anywhere so demonizing it is not going to reach the ears of our kids because our kids are growing up with it. So we take a very balanced approach at the way that we look at media and technology. We are really about sanity not censorship and it’s not about making a ban but making a plan.”
• “Digital citizenship might not be core content but it is core to content especially in this day in age where media and technology are playing a huge role in not just the lives of our kids but in the way we are instructing and the way kids are learning.”

As one of the leading online personal finance curricula, FoolProof currently reaches hundreds of thousands of middle and high school students across the United States. As Director of Education since the early days, Mike shares with us why he is so passionate about financial education, FoolProof's origin story (spoiler alert: a leading news anchor played a big role), and its evolution over the years. He also describes he philosophy that underpins the curriculum and how it educates students to be skeptical consumers so they can avoid common financial pitfalls. Enjoy!

In this installment of the NGPF Podcast, Mike McQuarrie describes how Erskine Academy in South China, Maine has created a three course sequence to boost college and career readiness. Providing a strong foundation in personal finance education has ensured that Erskine, an independent school, will succeed in the competition for students. He also describes the close collaboration between the counseling department and teachers which ensures that the curriculum is meeting the needs of the students. Enjoy!

Hear from this passionate advocate for financial education about how he galvanized the local business community to ensure every student in his district is both college and CAREER-READY and financially capable. Lots of great advice for administrators looking for creative ways to increase access to financial education too. 

I reached out to our FinLit Fanatics group recently requesting names of administrators who "get it" when it comes to financial education. I heard from a teacher at Lomira High School (WI) who recommended her principal, Deb Janke, who has been "super supportive in my quest of making our financial literacy courses effective!" In this podcast, Deb shares the process her school went through to ensure that all students took a personal finance course before they graduated as well as the benefits that she has seen in her school and the community. She also provides some valuable tips for teachers interested in sitting down with their principal to advocate for finance education. Enjoy! 

Comments:

Details:

• 0:00~1:29 Introduction
• 1:29~3:49 Arun’s background
• 3:49~4:40 Life as a 6th-grade teacher
• 4:40~8:05 Bringing money into the classroom
• 8:05~9:30 Transition to bond trading
• 9:30~12:17 Habits picked up from mentors
• 12:17~14:56 The complexities of the bond market
• 14:56~18:33 Arun’s entrepreneurial journey
• 18:33~20:16 Using AI to optimize financial needs
• 20:16~20:43 A word from NGPF
• 20:43~25:34 Virtual assistants and what they can do
• 25:34~27:58 Robo-investors and 401(k)s
• 27:58~30:06 History of AI in finance
• 30:06~32:26 Establishing trust as a startup
• 32:26~34:40 What consumers can do with starbutter today
• 34:40~36:04 Time it takes to find a credit card
• 36:04~40:55 The future of starbutter and finance
• 40:55~42:30 Conclusion

Resources mentioned:

• starbutter
• Bank of America - Erica

Quotes:

• “I love virtual assistants because it can do 60, 70, 80 percent of the work humans do at the highest level, like the best human that does it, and we can just have one virtual assistant assisting millions of people.”
• “What we found with virtual assistants is that when you buy a product it's justifying with data why they made the suggestion.”
• “[For a consumer to find a credit card] it takes anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes but our agent can get really good recommendations under 5 minutes, often under 2 minutes.”

Driven to serve others by educating them to become financially capable, Marcy Reyes has found several ways to accomplish this mission. She teaches at Rhode Island College while also leading a non-profit that she founded to support high school students. Oh, all this while holding down a full-time job with a health insurer. She is clearly someone motivated to serve others by teaching them valuable skills about managing their money. In this podcast, you will hear Marcy share her story and the reasons why she is so passionate about  financial education, the path from the vision to the reality of starting a non-profit and where she wants to take the FLY organization in the future. With Marcy at the helm, they are sure to soar! Enjoy!