Be Money Savvy Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Smith Will Smith uses humor to illustrate that money is not just about money. Money... It buys us stuff. We can give it away to good causes. We can earn it doing interesting things. We can save it. It's a big deal. We often say "financial education is economic self-defense." When we talk to teens, we hear that you'd like to have more confidence about earning, saving, investing, and giving money. A national survey asked teens if they were interested in learning more about how to manage money, 33 percent of girls in grades 9-11 said they were "very interested" and 47 percent said they were "somewhat interested" in learning more about how to manage money. Girls are really interested in this! But where can you get a "financial education"? Did you know that one study found that "less than 5% of high school and college students learn basic financial skills, such as saving, budgeting, and investing?" And, did you know that "90% of women will be financially responsible for their own well being at some time in their life?" Along with practical skills, we find it's valuable to understand our underlying beliefs about money & abundance, and about how our minds work. Here are a few practical resources that may help you get started in being "money savvy": 20 Secrets to Money and Independence: A Guide to Independence, Economic Empowerment, and Self-Awareness by Joline Godfrey. No More Frogs to Kiss: 99 Ways to Give Economic Power to Girls by Joline Godfrey. New Moon: Money (New Moon Books) by New Moon Publishing. Independent Means Inc. (IMI) provides financial education products and programs in the United States. They provide on-the-ground programs, camps, seminars, books, newsletters, games and other activities for kids, parents and mentors, and the companies that serve them. Since 1992, IMI has created and successfully delivered financial education experiences for more than 100,000 kids and 10,000 parents worldwide. http://www.IndependentMeans.com. Junior Achievement: Some schools and after school groups offer Junior Achievement programs. Junior Achievement is dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. Junior Achievement programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities. To learn about JA programs, visit their website: http://www.ja.org. Back to Fun for Girls ages 14-19