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“Funny Money” Gets Serious About Teaching Financial Planning
posted by: Ruthie | September 24, 2013, 02:29 PM   

Americans have been taking a long hard look at debt for years. According to estimates, the average American owes roughly $15,000 in personal debt, and the United States as a whole is $11.3 trillion dollars in debt. American teenagers are the largest consumer group, with an annual income of just $91.1 billion, and an averaging spending rate of $208.7 billion.


With such a large disparity in income and spending, the need for educating teenagers on spending habits is paramount to  future financial stability. However, often the mention of “financial planning” causes instant eye rolling and sudden sleepiness.  Canadian Comedian James Cunnigham  has found a way to capture students’ attention concerning money matters with “Funny Money,” a one-hour presentation about personal finance, specifically for teenagers.

Cunningham covers savings, budgeting, credit, borrowing, and investing in his presentation. He asks simple questions, like how much students will spend on school supplies in a year, a novel question for many students.
“People came in expecting a boring lecture and were surprised that it was so funny,” Cunningham reflected. 

Claire Wheeler was a senior in high school when “Funny Money” came to her school. After learning about compound interest and how to set up a tax-free monthly  retirement savings plans, Claire said, “If you start saving for your retirement fund when you’re 18, the amount you have saved by 60 is staggering.” She continued, “Hopefully I’m on my way.”

“Funny Money” has played to more than 500,000 students at 250 venues. In addition to the video, further resources can be found on their website, including cartoons videos, teaching tools, and financial calculations tools for teens.

Do you teach your students financial literacy? What tools do you use?
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4th Grade Teacher
written by Maddie, St. Joseph MI, October 17, 2013

We use a "mini-economy" structure as a classroom management/financial literacy component in our 4th grade classrooms. Students get paid for "coming to work" and completing the tasks associated with their jobs (Teacher's Secretary, Postal Clerk, Treasurer, Tax Collector, Line Leader, Lunch Bucket Carrier, etc.). On payday (every other Friday), students must endorse their paychecks, cash them for "funny money" and then have to pay cash for rent, taxes, and utilities. Once they have their net pay, they can go "shopping" at our class store, complete with fun donated items from parents. Prices on items are subject to inflation based on demand from students, and many decide to save up for an item they're hoping to purchase. It's a really fun component of our classroom that not only helps me out management-wise, but helps students apply their math skills to a real-world application! :)
Great Idea
written by Jaymie, Rochester NY, September 24, 2013

I am currently a Graduate Student. I wish this program was around when I was a teenager. I was essentially clueless about money, and it wasn't until debt affected me that I began to care about being responsible with my money. On many occasions I have said I wish I could "start over" with the knowledge I have now, to make better choices, then I did when I was 18. This is a great program to introduce for teens, to really get them to think in the big picture about college costs and beyond.

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