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? 

Details:

• 0:00–1:26: Introduction
• 1:27–3:05: Alexis' senior project on financial literacy
• 3:06–5:21: Why Alexis chose this as her topic
• 5:22-7:17:  Saver or Spender? 
• 7:18-9:27: Lessons learned at Baja Fresh 
• 9:27-10:43: Early money lessons
• 10:44-12:04 : What to include in the research report? 
• 12:05-15:02: Talking to friends and co-workers about money 
• 15:03-15:24: A word from our sponsor, Next Gen Personal Finance
• 15:25-17:26: Credit scores and credit cards
• 17:27-19:29: College plans
• 19:30-21:29: The teaching experience Alexis is getting in high school 
• 21:30-23:11: How to make personal finance engaging for young people
• 23:12-25:43: Tips on landing that first job 
• 25:45-26:55: Conclusion

Websites mentioned:

• Investopedia
• Forbes
• Newsela 
• EverFi

Alexis's "Financial Literacy for Teens" report

Notable Quotes:

• “Every kid should be taught this during high school...I feel that I would be more prepared after high school." 
• "Didn't know how important it is to keep your credit score very high and how I can do that." 
• "Making money isn't easy...hard to find a job without work experience." 
• "...make it relevant to students' lives...not going straight to retirement." 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

More posts by Tim