Students Aiming to Normalize Money Talk
Let’s normalize talking about money with young people. That will go a long way toward helping young people become financially capable.
While financial capability might look different for young people in different places, it sounds the same no matter the language: it sounds like conversations about saving, spending, and managing money.
For too many young people it doesn’t sound like anything because money talk is unspoken. In many cultures we simply don’t do a good job of talking about money with young people and teaching them how to manage it. Money talk can be emotional and viewed as something to avoid.
Let’s do better for the next generation by normalizing money talk with the young people in our lives. The more we teach and talk with young people about money—good ways to earn it, how to spend it wisely, and how to save it—the more confidence and control they gain over their lives.
Money talk is a big part of our newest global initiative, JA Building a Financially Capable Generation. In partnership with HSBC, JA educators and HSBC volunteers are engaging thousands of young people in 17 countries and territories around the world in productive “Money Talk.”
Conversations start in classrooms and video chats as educators and volunteers introduce students to proactive mindsets and sound money management practices. Conversations are lively: an evaluation of the initiative’s pilot found that students were highly engaged and interested in talking about money and sharing their experiences and questions. While students talk about how they envision earning money and planning for their future, they gain a financial vocabulary and elementary understanding of how to make smart financial decisions and manage their own money.
“Money Talk” will go mobile later this year when JA unveils its FinQuest app. The educational app blends games and simulations to further cultivate young people’s confidence and inspire smart behaviors. Part of the JA Building a Financially Capable Generation learning experience, the FinQuest app will also be available for free for any young person to download, learn, and practice mindful and sound financial management.
Innovation Challenges for Financial Capability
“Money Talk” is at the center of the program’s culminating competition, the National Innovation Challenge. An Innovation Challenge is an intensive learning experience for young people that exercises their idea-generation, communication, and collaboration skills. In an Innovation Challenge, students work in teams to design their own solutions to social challenges.
In JA Building a Financially Capable Generation, the challenge is focused on normalizing money talk. Student teams are imagining a “Money Talk” podcast that provides young people and parents with a safe and open environment to talk and learn about money. They are developing and pitching ideas that answer questions like:
How can we encourage conversations about money between adults and young people?
What questions do young people want to ask adults?
What can adults do to help young people build confidence and feel good about managing money?
Volunteers are serving as mentors and coaches and helping student teams navigate the Innovation Challenge. Teams are preparing to submit short videos and presentations of their ideas. Volunteers provide feedback and voting to recognize winning teams.
Introducing the Global FinCap Challenge
For students participating in the JA Building a Financially Capable Generation initiative, the winners of each participating location’s Innovation Challenge will advance to the Global FinCap Challenge. Volunteers from HSBC lead the learning experience and celebrate student success.
The team earning the title of Global FinCap Champion demonstrates:
Innovation and Creativity
Presentation Quality
Solution Feasibility
Teamwork
Winners of the Global FinCap Challenge earn prizes including a Microsoft Surface Go 3, Surface Headphones, and a Masterclass subscription.
Stay tuned for updates via our social media channels.
Key Dates:
May 16: Local / National Innovation Challenges completed and Champions selected by JA locations participating in the JA Building a Financially Capable Generation initiative.
May 31: Local / National Champions compete in the Global FinCap Challenge with HSBC.
June TBD: Global Awards Ceremony live stream with winning teams.
