From Candy to Concept

Young Americans Center for Financial EducationBank Leave a Comment

Share This Article

A young customer gets ready to pull on the weights filled with $50 in different types of coins.

A young customer gets ready to pull on the weights filled with $50 in different types of coins.

It starts with candy…

A trip to Young Americans Bank involves many things for a young customer: making a transaction, grabbing a piece of candy, learning a new money fact, getting a Passbook stamped, and probably taking a pull on the money weights.

Talking to your kids about money while in the bank is easy. It gets a lot harder to keep the conversation going while at home, however. That’s why we offer our Concepts of the Month. We take one financial topic each month and focus on providing additional information and take-home activities for the whole family. The Concept of the Month for March is “Time and Money”.

…and ends with learning a bit more about banking

Over time, money in a bank grows. This is an exciting concept for our younger customers to experience. “You mean that you PAY me to keep my money with YOU?!” is a common phrase heard when a youngster opens an account. Our New Account Representatives explain that interest is the extra money a bank gives to its customers who have savings accounts with that bank.

The concept gets a little more difficult when you add in the idea of an “interest rate”. This is where our Concept of the Month comes in handy. Using several worksheets, we provide some specific lessons, examples young people can easily identify with, and questions that can be asked and discussed around the dinner table.

This month we even throw in something many of our customers’ parents aren’t familiar with: the “Rule of 72”. It’s the rule that money in savings accounts eventually doubles. We’ve included a great explanation and an activity for youth ages 12 to 16 to go through to learn the Rule of 72. Every member of the dinner table just might learn something with that activity!

You can find these Concepts here on the blog by searching for “Concept of the Month”, or check back at the beginning of each month for a new one.  Here are the worksheets for March:

Time and Money

Interested in Interest

Rule of 72

Do you have a specific banking concept you’d like to see us address? Tell us in the comments below and we may plan a whole month for it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *