NGPF Podcast

Alexis reached out to me via email a few weeks back and wanted to talk money. She had a high school research project that she was working on and had a few questions for me about financial education. Based on the depth of her questions and her resourcefulness in getting sources for her report (this was a first!), I had my own questions. Listen to the podcast to get answers to these and more:

• Why is she interested in personal finance?
• How did a personal finance course that she took her junior year make a difference? 
• How did her research report help her in making decisions in her life, particularly her higher education plans? 
• What were the biggest insights while she was doing her research? 

I know that you are going to enjoy this conversation that I had with advocate, author and documentarian, Adam Carroll. After running into Adam at more than few conferences, we finally found time in his busy schedule (you can see based on the headline that he has a lot going on!). In this broad-ranging conversation, we discuss Adam's journey from profligate young adult to a highly sought after speaker to Gen Z and millennial audiences where he focuses, you guessed it, on money. His main message: use money as a tool to "build a bigger life, not a bigger lifestyle." Adam shares observations that come from speaking to tens of thousands of young people about their money concerns and desires. How can bamboo be a motivator? What's the difference between a doodad and an asset? Listen to this podcast with Adam and find out!

 NGPF Gold Standard teacher Jill Thompson of Casper, WY joined us for a special advocacy episode of the NGPF Podcast this week. Jill was an NGPF Fellow for the 2016-17 School Year. Kelly Walsh High School, where Jill has taught Business for all of her career, is one of the latest additions to the NGPF Gold Standard Schools list from the month of November.

Christian, NGPF’s Advocacy Director, chatted with Jill about how she persevered to ensure that ALL students at Kelly Walsh HS got access to crucial financial education, after several years of the class being a very popular elective.Her story not only inspires but also provides food for thought for educators who are looking to advocate for more comprehensive financial education in their schools, districts and states. It can be done with persistence, tenacity and a little elbow grease. Since her school won the honor, Jill also advocated that the other high schools in her district receive the same distinction, and their banners are now en route!

It was great to run into Julius at a few conferences recently and learn more about the program he has developed at Mt. St. Joseph's. As someone who has advocated and developed personal finance programs at two different schools over the last 20 years at two different schools, Julius has a wealth of experience to share. You will hear him describe the one book that became the cornerstone of his course in the early years. From the power of story-telling to making investing fun and understandable for his students, Julius has many "tricks of the trade" that leave his students well equipped to manage their financial lives. As a constant tinkerer (sound familiar, financial educators?), Julius also shares his go-to resources and websites that he relies on to ensure that his course remains up-to-date and relevant. Oh and if you are a high school basketball fan, you won't want to miss Julius discussing his years as a coach at powerhouse DeMatha High School and the legendary Morgan Wooten. Enjoy!

It was great to see Barbara at the JumpStart National Educator Conference in DC recently. We had a few conversations there about her favorite classroom activities and I encouraged (pleaded?) for her to come on the podcast and share them with the community. So, you will learn about them as well as her earliest money lessons and how she incorporates morals, values and ethics into her course. I know that you will enjoy hearing from an engaging and passionate educator! 

Websites mentioned:

• Izzit.org: educational videos to teach critical thinking skills
• Venmo, a free person-to-person money transferring app
• Acorn, a free finance app that helps you invest your change into index funds
• Penguin Plunge for the Special Olympics, fundraiser in her community; I have a standing invite:)

NGPF resources mentioned

• NGPF: Budgeting in College
• Payback: NGPF’s new game about paying for college
• NGPF blog (Question of the Day)
• NGPF lesson on Philanthropy
• NGPF’s Semester Course

Notable Quotes:

• “I was overwhelmed (after the first semester) about how much the students wanted to learn about money.”
• In regards to teaching personal finance in high school: “These are the seeds we need to plant down the road...because if you start making good decisions now, you’re going to continue to make good decisions.”
• “There are two things in life that you’re going to have to take care of because no one else is going to: your reputation and your credit score.”
• “[Personal finance] is not just in the classroom.”

Want a radical approach to teaching financial education? How about creating jobs for your students at school and paying them for their efforts...then standing back and watch how they manage THEIR money. Dan LaSalle, educator at Olney High School in Philadelphia came up with this idea, received a grant to fund it and shares his observations after one year of running the IF (Identity and Finance) Project. His belief: to teach kids about money they need to have money to manage. Listen to the passionate advocate as he describes the joys and challenges of his innovative program. Enjoy!

I really enjoyed my recent conversation with Steve Frederickson of PRA Group. He just recently stepped down as CEO of PRA, a company he founded 20 years ago (Hat tip to Melissa at NGPF for connecting me with Steve) Looking back at his tenure, Steve shares the ups and downs (mostly ups!) that make entrepreneurial ventures so satisfying and so all consuming too. Steve shares that journey from developing an enduring strategy for PRA right out of the gate as a start-up, to taking the company public, to managing it successfully for over two decades. That is a rare feat indeed to take a company from 0 to public and then successfully manage for such a long tenure. He also details what he and his team learned in helping millions of indebted consumers manage their debts and what he thinks all young adults should know about credit. Enjoy!