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An Investment Company advisor advertises products in AmeriTowne.
Young Americans Center for Financial Education strives to teach youth about how to responsibly manage their finances. Part of this lesson involves the concept of investing, a topic that parents and teachers often shy away from due to their own misunderstandings or lack of knowledge about this subject. The Young AmeriTowne program, in partnership with Cambiar Investors, simplifies investing into three steps.
Central to understanding investing is understanding that investing involves risk. As a result, the AmeriTowne curriculum begins the unit of investing by leads students through a risk assessment quiz. With questions such as, “If you were offered a one-way ticket to the moon, would you take it?” students explore their personal level of risk tolerance.
The next step in the investing process educates students about different types of investment portfolios. To make things simple, Young Americans and Cambiar created just three different types of investments: stocks, mutual funds, and CDs. Students learn that the stock is the most risky type of investment in AmeriTowne, but also has the capacity for the largest return. The CD, on the other hand, is the least risky, but it comes with the smallest return on investment.
Finally, students choose which investment they would like to make in the Cambiar Investment Company. Throughout their day in AmeriTowne, students can stop by the shop to see how their investment is doing. Using a real-time graph of the AmeriTowne “market,” Investment Advisors can help students if they wish to change their investment. Finally, students calculate and report on their investment earnings when they return to school.
Thanks to Cambiar Investors, students participating in the Young AmeriTowne program learn the basics of investing that give them a framework to make wise financial decisions in the future.
