Starting a business talking to young adults about finances?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash This will sound sarcastic, but I am very serious. Have you considered making a video game to "teach" the principals of money management? The players could compete to budget, invest and accumulate savings and earn rewards like fancy cars (based on SWR, or course).

Sounds like Kiyosaki's board game "Rat Race". Although I bet there's a version out for Xbox & PS3 by now...

[kaudrey]

Operation Hope does this type of education for junior high and high schoolers if you want to check out their business model. I have been thinking about volunteering for them.

Look under "programs and services" for Banking on Our Future.

Karen

[Brat]

Another marketing venue would be Credit Unions.

My SIL is a CPA who teaches HS, they don't have room in the curriculum for him to teach a personal finance class, focus is on seeing that the kids score well on 'the test' and the students building a CV for college apps.

[ERD50]

Interesting ideas. I had thought about holding 'classes' like this for friends, to show them how they can take steps to FIRE. I never planned on turning it into a business, I just figured it would help them, and help me in the process - having to explain something always forces me to understand it a bit deeper. I never actually did it - I'm not sure anyone is really interested (I think they want to believe I won the lottery), or they might think I'm going to try to sell them something.

Unfortunately, I tend to agree with the negativism of most of the posters. Kids aren't going to care, and don't have the money to pay. You *might* find some parents that would want someone to teach their kids, but that seems like a hard sell to a small minority.

Credibility: tough one. I talk to my college age kid about this stuff, and he does seem to listen (some). But, the credibility that I've got, is that he sees I can do what I want, when I want now, instead of the stressed out, working late nights and weekends guy I used to be.

But, if you tried to use that line 'I retired early, let me show you how', it comes across like a late night infomercial.

It sure looks like it would be easier to make money with some get-rich-quick-no-money-down-no-risk-work-from-your-own-home-be-your-own-boss-pick-your-hours scheme, people seem to jump at handing over money for that. It's tough to sell common sense, if they had any, they probably wouldn't need to be taught the basics. If they need to be taught the basics, they might not have much common sense. There are exceptions to that, of course, but maybe not enough to make a business out of.

I know a lot of people here are critical of her, but Ms Orman actually does a decent job at that part of the spectrum of personal finance, IMO. Tough competition.

-ERD50

[Brat]

Don't give up so easily. My SIL gets questions from students in the hallway asking when their parents should exercise stock options!! He discourages those questions, particularly when other parents are technicians just trying to pay living expenses. His environment is unique, but there are lots of kids who want to learn about financial matters.

In my youth we had an exercise where we teamed up with another student and went on a mock trip to set up a household. This was before the pill, or other options, and it was an element of a 'get real' and postpone marriage exercise.

I think our youth really wants to know about how to manage money. I think the Boy Scouts have a finance merit badge, perhaps a bit basic but Scoutmasters are always looking for help for the kids. You could talk to the program leaders at your local Boys & Girl's Club. Find out what is already happening at your local high school, build on that and plan on a basic and advanced program. Offer it in small bites. Kids have so many demands on their time, it they think they need to commit to 7 classes they will not participate because they don't want to disappoint you if they can't show up.

[chrisdut]

It would be difficult to establish a business in this area for all the reasons previously mentioned. I never understood why financial issues were not part of my high school education. It would seem that skills such as establishing a household budget, balancing a checkbook, avoiding high interest rate debt, etc. should be covered at this level. I first learned how to establish a budget in boy scouts as a requirement for a merit badge (probably the same one that Brat mentioned).

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat Another marketing venue would be Credit Unions.

I think this is an excellent idea............and Navy Federal Credit Union has a long list of openings including "Financial Advisor", although the #1 job element is probably selling.

[Brat]

My nephews received The Green Magazine Guide to Personal Finance: "A No B.S. Money Book for Your Twenties and Thirties" for Christmas.

You could used that as a textbook for a class for young adults. It doesn't talk down although I think it is a little basic (except for mortgages, by your mid 20s they ought to know much of this stuff). This would be eye-opening for most 17 year olds. 4-star rated by 7 readers on Amazon.

I think it could grow into a business once you have students clamoring for a class.

(added comment)

[retire@40]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisdut ...I never understood why financial issues were not part of my high school education. It would seem that skills such as establishing a household budget, balancing a checkbook, avoiding high interest rate debt, etc. should be covered at this level...

Can you imagine what this country would look like if everyone learned how to control their financial lives?

The credit card companies would go broke!

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by retire@40 Can you imagine what this country would look like if everyone learned how to control their financial lives? The credit card companies would go broke!

Which is why they ply college students with 0% cards.........

I'd LOVE to be the one that took down Citibank or Chase, that I was the little cog that brought the whole industry to it;s knees.............ok dream over............

[retire@40]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Which is why they ply college students with 0% cards......... I'd LOVE to be the one that took down Citibank or Chase, that I was the little cog that brought the whole industry to it;s knees.............ok dream over...........

Actually, I did my part. I applied for the Citibank Dividend card while I was in college.

Since then I have paid them $0 in interest and I've received over $3,000 in "dividends" from them.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Kids aren't going to care, and don't have the money to pay. You *might* find some parents that would want someone to teach their kids, but that seems like a hard sell to a small minority.

I have a young lady aged 22 working for me. She has been saving for FIRE since she was 16 and has a nice portfolio. Her mom is an accountant and ensured that she had a good grounding in basic personal finance. Lucky girl!

[bright eyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ceberon I know you're already aware of this, but I think it's the single largest roadblock to your idea. I've had many of the same ideas, as I'm sure others here have as well. I am always shocked at how little my relatives / friends know about finances, and keep thinking that my knowledge is incredibly valuable to them. The problem is that almost no one wants that value that you can offer. Not only are they not interested in finances, but even if you make it sound interesting "You could retire by age 40 if you'd only..", they still will fade out as soon as you start talking percentages. I certainly wish you good luck, but it is hard to get people to be interested.

I think there is a huge market for people to get financial advice - but not 18-25 - think age range is more like 23-30 when you are thinking about working seriously, starting to get a real paycheck and realizing you have to pay for everything on your own.

I know that personally and a lot of people around me have only books as resources as we are immigrants, kids of immigrants and have far less access to family knowledge or resources on these types of things. well, and with the internet you can get started, but people would love personal one-to-one advice or even small group advice where you can ask questions if it didn't come from a large firm...

I think the hurdle is to market yourself correctly so that you validate you know what you are talking about and you aren't out to "sell" your wares more than just good knowledge - word of mouth would be a strong validator.

you could give free lunchtime talks at a few businesses with young associates...

[CCdaCE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bright eyed I think there is a huge market for people to get financial advice - but not 18-25 - think age range is more like 23-30 when you are thinking about working seriously, starting to get a real paycheck and realizing you have to pay for everything on your own. <snip> you could give free lunchtime talks at a few businesses with young associates...

I can second this. At the end of college, and the start of my first job, I had "all this money" that I knew I'd like to invest, but wasn't sure which direction to head. I started off getting raked over the coals by insurance salesmen, but thankfully read enough Bogle/Bernstein/etc. to stay afloat and run away from Mr. Broker. Into the loving arms of Vanguard.

Ok, I'll stop the VG worshipping.

-CC

[kcowan]

Better to be selling hot cars and big screen TVs.

Always start a business that caters to demand satisfaction rather than demand creation.

[bright eyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan Better to be selling hot cars and big screen TVs. Always start a business that caters to demand satisfaction rather than demand creation.

Or, the visionary business mind who "sees" a need that is not yet being filled

seriously, the coworkers and friends i know who are "good" at this stuff learned it from very informal networks like family - the rest of us are on our own and few are diligent and get going early on our own, but many can use a helping hand

i think 25 is the "oh crap" it's up to me?! year - haha hopefully you have a good job, pay rent (maybe on your own for the first time, find your own health insurance etc. no more financial aid or help from parents!

and even if we do get good advice from family or friends, its good to have an outside point of view, of someone who may have been more successful or diligent in their commitment to saving/investing well, and doesn't have a slick website or book (yet) ha.

but it could depend where you are too - i'm in the SF bay area and that is densely populated with a very diverse population, if that is not where you are, it might be a different scenario - i think big cities with lots of people who've moved away from home!

[excellent]

It's very strange how people react. They tune you out completely and ignore the message, or they pretend to listen to the message but in the back of their mind they are actually tuning you out because they expect you to sell something to them. Or they might actually be interested, but the thing there is that they already know enough about finances to keep their heads above the water. If you want to do what you say what you want to do then kudos to you, because you will be fighting against the current system of keeping our youth in the dark ages in regards to finance, all part of the system of churning out millions of debt ridden students yearly, and poor souls who retire in their 100's down the road. But be optimistic and dynamic about how you'll approach this, because if students recognize what you're doing for them they'll come in droves... and you'll have accomplished what you set out to do.

[Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisdut It would be difficult to establish a business in this area for all the reasons previously mentioned. I never understood why financial issues were not part of my high school education. It would seem that skills such as establishing a household budget, balancing a checkbook, avoiding high interest rate debt, etc. should be covered at this level. I first learned how to establish a budget in boy scouts as a requirement for a merit badge (probably the same one that Brat mentioned).

I agree wholeheartedly. There are lots of children who do not even go to college, so this should be done at the high school level, either in their junior or senior year. It should be a required course, not an elective and they should be required to pass the course as part of the graduation requirements.

I have seen many financial messes that people have made for themselves, when I was working. I would not have been able to sleep at night, if I had had some of their bills.

Last night, on 20/20 I believe, they had a show regarding money and debt. One couple lived in a beautiful big house, but owed $60,000.00 in credit card debt along with the usual mortgage and car debts. They had also bought 2 timeshares for investment reasons and had large mortgages on them! Some people just don't have a clue! I think that it would be very rewarding to help people climb back from those type of lows and give them a chance to reclaim their lives by teaching them how to get out of and stay out of debt. They also had another family that had 5 children and earned less than $35,000.00 per year and they had absolutely zero debt. They only bought what they could pay for in cash.

[RedHawk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat \ I think the Boy Scouts have a finance merit badge

I am an Eagle Scout and I believe that Personal Finance is one of the best merit badges. It requires you to keep a 90 day budget and learn about basic financial concepts. Another one of the requirements is to have a discussion with your parents about your family's financial situation. Seeing my parents balance sheet was the event that got me interested in savings. I thought that my parents were poor compared to other familys because of our house size, the cars in our drive way, etc. However I learned that day that my parents had a nice nest egg. After seeing their balance sheet, my parents questions about needs vs. wants began to make sense.