Fun Times at Camp Millionaire
When I think of summer camp, a few things immediately come to mind: s'mores, campfires, free swim, war canoe, and ranch dressing (I went to camp in Texas).
Things I would never have encountered at camp include budgeting, investing, and lessons on how to improve my credit score. But that's the idea at Camp Millionaire in Santa Barbara, Calif., where campers learn how to rebalance portfolios, invest in real estate, and avoid pesky credit card fees. Over five days, campers set up an economy in miniature with mock currency that kids spend, invest, and use to pay hypothetical bills, according to this story in the Wall Street Journal. (The weeklong session runs from $279 to $300.)
Here's the best part: One kid returned from camp using phrases like "adversely affect your credit score." According to the story, he told his mother that she was racking up unnecessary fees on her credit card and that the mortgage on their home was too high for her income.
Tags: children | teens | financial literacy
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Teaching kids about money
I have to correct the writing here. (I run this program). We don't talk to the kids about rebalancing their portfolios. We do, however, teach them about owning assets in all Three Pillars of Wealth: real estate, stocks and businesses entities.
One of the problems with our current idea of financial freedom is the R word: retirement. We've been conditioned (yes, conditioned) to think we have to work for 40 years of so and 'accumulate' enough money to retire on. This is not what we teach kids in our program.
We teach them to build and invest in, passive income producing assets in all three pillars so that they can achieve financial freedom while they are young enough to really enjoy their lives and make a difference in the world with all their extra money!
And we do all this in a playful, engaging environment with games (our very own Money Gam), activities, contests, roleplaying and more.
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