Road to 10%

How long will it take us to get from a sub zero savings rate to 10%. Likely a generation. But steps like the bill being considered in the California legislature can help. AB 150 is a "first step" bill that will establish the California Literacy Council and create a state clearinghouse of financial literacy information for California schools. As I've said before, understanding personal finance is as crucial to a kid's well being as learning multiplication tables and your ABC's. The California Jump$tart Coalition (of which Snigglezoo Entertainment, our company, is a member) is focused on bringing financial literacy education to every child in California. This bill is a good first step. Currently, only seven states require that high school students take a personal finance course to graduate. This number should be 50. In time it will be.

"The Fourth R" - The Real World

I recently took part in a conference call hosted by Robert Duvall and the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) announcing their "Report Card – Survey of the States: Economic, Personal Finance, and Entrepreneurship Education in Our Nation's Schools in 2007." The upshot? Kids are not learning what Mr. Duvall referred to as the "The Fourth R - 'The Real World'" The report notes that "the majority of students aren't receiving the essential real-life economic skills they need to become knowledgeable consumers, prudent savers and investors, and productive members of the workforce." It's this fourth R that is arguably as important as the other three (you remember, Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic). It's so exciting to be a part of those on the vanguard of getting this most important message out - particularly to very young children - so that we can help cement behaviors that will serve them well throughout their lives.