Student voice is critical when it comes to increasing access to financial education. Angie Leung and Vidula Mannem share their advocacy journey in this NGPF podcast. Their focus is on ensuring that any financial education must include behavioral finance since knowledge is not enough when it comes to money. Enjoy! 

Details:

• 0:00~2:00 Introduction
• 2:00~3:36 Vidula’s experience with money and her school’s Economic and Finance Club
• 3:36~5:23 How Angie learned about personal finance from her parents
• 5:23~6:45 Lack of personal finance concepts being taught in Massachusetts  
• 6:45~8:18 The importance of behavioral finance
• 8:18~9:43 Survey on the lack of behavioral finance concepts being taught 
• 9:43~10:41 Concentrating on the “why” 
• 10:41~12:20 How to engage students with personal finance concepts 
• 12:20~12:37 A word from NGPF
• 12:37~14:44 The next step for Angie and Vidula 
• 14:44~16:06 Personal finance embedded in econ classes
• 16:06~19:18 Topics students are interested in
• 19:18~21:15 How to engage students during distance learning
• 21:15~22:18 Conclusion

Resources:

• Results of Vidula and Angie's research on state of financial education in Massachusetts

• Behavioral Finance: Psychology, Decision-Making, and Markets

Quotes:

• “So [the students] finding out about how personal finance is applicable to their lives is really important. Instead of just addressing the ‘what’ or the “how” to save, we should  address the ‘why’.” - Vidula

• “While it is important to recognize the intersection of math and personal finance, it doesn’t present the most effective learning method for students. Just like any other class, students can just cram in information days before a test and forget about it. Instead, we would like to suggest a curriculum emphasizing the emotional aspect of personal finance.” - Angie

About the Authors

Ren Makino

Ren started interning at NGPF in 2014, and worked part-time through high school and college. With his knowledge growing alongside NGPF, he joined the team to work full-time after graduating from college in 2020. He is also the producer of the NGPF podcast. During his free time, he likes to try out coffees from different roasters across the world.

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.