Investing Early
Invest Early (2:25)
“One of the things that you may think is, “Well, that’s for adults, and I may do that when I’m older.” But what I’d really encourage you to do is to think about investing today…”
Role models in order of appearance: Katherine Giscombe, Yvonne Spicer, Kristi Matus, Gita Rao, and Whitney Johnson.
1) One role model said, “Young girls really need to be thinking about their future. And you need to be thinking about a way that you can build a solid financial base for yourself and for your family.” Why do you think it is important to have a solid financial base? What are you already doing to help build a solid financial base for yourself? What else could you start doing?
2) Listeners heard about the importance of learning about stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. What do you already know about these financial terms? How could you learn more? Who could you talk to in your life that might be able to help?
3) One role model discussed the importance of thinking about brands that you use every day or things that you are interested in when considering investment choices. Use the space below to list some brands that you like or things you are interested in such as recycling or books. How could you use your list above to start learning about investing? What steps does the role model suggest you take?
4) Listeners learned that there is “tremendous power in investing today”. Why do you think this is true? What difference do you think it makes if you begin investing this year or ten years from now?
5) You may have heard the saying, “Slow and steady wins the race.” How does this saying relate to investing? Do you think this is the best way to approach saving and investing for your future? Why or why not?
Young girls really need to be thinking about their future. And you need to be thinking about a way that you can build a solid financial base for yourself and for your family.
When I was in high school, we took a class, economics class. And part of the class experience, we all had to pick a stock. I watched it grow. I watched my shares in it. And I started to understand a lot more how the stock market works, how mutual funds work, and how there is actually buying a group of stock together, or how bonds work.
Look at what you’re interested in. What are the brands that you use every day? What do you think about? What’s important to you? Now, look at these companies. Are they publicly traded? You can easily look that up online. You can see their share prices. And after you do your research, ask yourself, “Would I invest some money in them?” If you think you would, even if you don’t have the savings set aside, start setting up a ghost account. Start trading, making your own decisions about it. And then at the same time you’re doing that, tuck that babysitting money away in a bank account, because you’ll be surprised, if you don’t spend it, before long, you’ll have enough where you can turn that ghost account into a real investment account, but now you know what to do because you’ve practiced.
If you wanted to get to a million dollars in saving, there is the unglamorous way to do it, which is slow and steady wins the race. Try and save 10% of whatever you make at the very least. And the time value of money means that, eventually, the money will grow. Invest it wisely. Don’t keep it in a checking account. Invest it wisely. Be mindful of risk, and it will grow.
One of the things that you may think is, “Well, that’s for adults, and I may do that when I’m older.” But what I’d really encourage you to do is to think about investing today, because if you buy a share in Apple or Disney today, again, if you go to your parents and say, “I want to open an account at Schwab, and I want to buy one share,” that share, in 10 years’ time, you just put it in the bank, and it’s like you bury it. And you don’t pay any attention to it. And you may find that 10 years from now, you had to do nothing. And instead of being worth $10, it’s now worth $100. There’s tremendous power in investing today.
Investing Early Independent Learning Guide: This all-purpose guide can also be used by educators, parents, and mentors to jumpstart a valuable discussion about the importance of investing early and developing a plan for a solid financial future.
Financial Literacy is a key to controlling your destiny and living the life of your dreams. Challenge yourself to learn just one of these Financial Literacy Terms To Know each day.
Investing early can help ensure you have a solid financial foundation for the future. Whether you already understand investment basics or are just beginning, our role models have plenty of great advice for you! Learn more about the importance of investing and think about the steps you can take today to help secure a solid financial future for yourself and your family.
Investing Early Classroom Lesson Plan: This step-by-step lesson plan is available to guide a more in-depth “before, during, and after” learning experience when viewing the video with students. This lesson plan is also suitable for use in after-school programs and other educational settings.
Use Empowerment Activities as a fun way to reinforce the video topic and build community with your students.
Related Empowerment Activities:
Investing Early Fun Page Activity – Why is it so important to start investing today? Why can’t it wait until you’re older? Find out by completing this shocking fun-page activity. Time is one of the most important aspects of investing, and you’ll learn why you definitely shouldn’t wait!