Great Summary of Issues in Financial Literacy Education

One of the best articles written about the challenges we face in training people to be competent in money matters.

I have believed for a long time that financial literacy education's failure to date is not about the content, as there has been enough written, produced and printed about the in's and out's of the world of money. But instead, it is an issue of delivering the training information to the right person at the right time in a form that will be most effective for them. Not such an easy task.

The article, by Tom Hanza, the President of the Investor Education Fund, needs to be read by all people interested in and working on the education of kids, young adults and seniors in money matters.

A Brilliant Poem

Smart: By Shel Silverstein

My dad gave me one dollar bill

‘Cause I’m his smartest son,

And I swapped it for two shiny quarters

‘Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters

And traded them to Lou

For three dimes — I guess he don’t know

That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates

And just ’cause he can’t see

He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,

And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs

Down at the seed-feed store,

And the fool gave me five pennies for them,

And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,

And he got red in the cheeks

And closed his eyes and shook his head–

Too proud of me to speak!

Charitable Giving: Helping Those In Haiti

In light of the recent ruinous earthquake in Haiti, we are all looking for ways to help. If you are considering making a donation here are a few things to keep in mind to help ensure your kindness gets to those who need it most.

1. Check the Better Business Bureau Web site for information about the charity's mission, compensation, expenses and rating. The site makes it pretty easy to check that the charity is ok.
2. Check out The Wise Giving Guide, published quarterly by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which summarizes the results of the Alliance’s latest national charity evaluations and features a cover story, usually with giving tips, on charity accountability issues or other topics of interest to donors.
3. Visit a charity rating site, like Guidestart.org, to help you find some of the top rated charities and direct links to make a donation.
4. It never hurts to see what others are saying about an organization in chat rooms, forums, and by checking postings or ratings about the charity you are considering donating to. A lot of negative comments could signal a red flag.
5. Consider mobile giving. MGive Foundation makes it really easy to donate $10 and have it charged to your phone bill. There are other organizations doing this now as well. You can search Google for other options.
6. Facebook has created a disaster relief page on which users can keep track of the latest information regarding the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, as well as relief organizations that are helping the cause.

Even small donations contribute to the efforts to help the many homeless and injured in Haiti.

Live MOMTV: The Spin Cycle Interview: Wednesday (1/13) 9PM ET

Join me on momtv: The Spin Cycle, in conversation with Host Danielle Smith, as we discuss all sorts of things related to teaching kids about money. The why, the how, the when, answer questions and give practical advice.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

9PM ET/ 6PM PT

http://www.momtv.com/TheSpinCycle.html

Just go to the website and feel free to enter questions in the chat box. No need to log in or create any user id's.

Hope to see you there.

Denise