Welcome to this week’s edition of our Tuesday Top 5, Econ4U’s weekly tips post to help you manage your money in five easy steps.
This week, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote about what the country really needs instead of yet another economic stimulus package:
What the country needs most now is not more government stimulus, but more stimulation. We need to get millions of American kids, not just the geniuses, excited about innovation and entrepreneurship again. We need to make 2010 what Obama should have made 2009: the year of innovation, the year of making our pie bigger, the year of “Start-Up America.”
On that note, and in the spirit of getting the year started on the right foot, here are five ways to teach the next generation about the American Dream.
- You’re never too young to learn. TIME magazine recently profiled Chicago’s Ariel Community Academy and its K-8 investing program. Each incoming kindergarten class is given dominion over an investment portfolio worth $20,000; by seventh grade, the young investors are allowed to pick what and when to buy and sell. Any profits at eighth grade graduation go toward a college scholarship fund that benefits the graduating class.
- Even lemonade stands are teaching tools. Watch our video for just a few of the lessons this classic summertime activity provides young kids.
- Encourage teens to start their own companies. The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s flagship program is a contest at middle and high schools nationwide (mostly in low-income communities) that helps 24,000 participating students start their own businesses.
- Avoid the “Freshmen Financial Fifteen.” College students are particularly at risk for not budgeting properly, signing up for expensive cell-phone plans, and abusing their credit cards. If they are aware of the responsible use of each, they are primed for a financially secure adulthood.
- Finally, take the Econ4U Entrepreneurship Quiz. Even adults may be surprised at what they don’t know about starting a business.
