According to CNBC, “high school students who are required to take personal finance courses have better average credit scores and lower debt delinquency rates as young adults.” In addition to this, each state has different standards for personal finance curriculum in their schools, and many children lack basic financial literacy skills because they are not exposed to these conversations in their homes.
In light of current school closures and social distancing, we’re proud to announce a new collaboration that will take our Piggy Bank program virtual!
Our Piggy Bank Program normally takes place in elementary schools, with Andson bank tellers and real money that students bring to the Piggy Bank to deposit once a week. Students then keep track of their savings in their own Piggy Bank deposit books, similar to how we balance checkbooks. Kids receive rewards for completing savings’ goals they set for themselves every quarter and get a check for their money when they graduate 5th grade.
As Andson continues to stay on the cusp of innovative financial literacy education, we have now adapted our innovative financial literacy programming to be accessible for at-home learning by partnering with BusyKid, an app that teaches kids the basics of personal finance by earning, saving, sharing, spending, and investing real allowance.
This app teaches kids smart financial routines and brings essential financial literacy conversations into your home. Help your kids build good financial routines now by signing up today at signup.busykid.com/andson.
Here’s a breakdown of the main features of the BusyKid app:
Parents assign chores for children (ages 5-16) and set up a weekly allowance that they approve. Think of BusyKid as your kid’s first job with direct deposit.
Like for many adults, payday is every Friday, and money is deposited directly into the child’s BusyKid account.
Once money is in the child’s account they can SAVE their money, SHARE by donating a percentage of their earnings to an actual charity, SPEND it by purchasing fractional shares of real stocks, or they can request cash from a parent.
You can also award your child bonuses for extra work they’ve done, good grades, or special occasions.
Parents must approve all transactions that move money outside of the BusyKid system. So while your child has the responsibility of choosing how to use their money, all monetary operations are still in your control.
To get the full functionality of the app you should link your bank account for direct deposit capability. You have the option to link a debit or credit card instead, but might be charged a third-party fee.
The app is free to use, but you also have the option of purchasing a BusyKid Visa Prepaid Spend Card for $7.99/year that allows your child to shop online and in stores with the money they’ve earned. Parents have the ability to track the transaction history of card usage on the app and must approve money being transferred to the Spend Card from the app.
Certified financial planner, Co-founder and CEO of BusyKid, Gregg Murset, believes that using online technology is the way to teach kids these crucial personal finance skills. He says, “That’s the way kids are learning these days, so teaching them with coins and paper dollars just isn’t that smart anymore. Why not use some of that screen time for good and for practicing the life skills they need to fly on their own?”
He’s even used this app with his own children, “At age 18 my son left for college with $11,000 saved up, which is more than the average American has in savings.”
