Financial literacy is key to individuals, families, and communities thriving. Being able to make informed and confident decisions about saving, investing, borrowing, and budgeting allows people to achieve their goals and build wealth. Consequently, teaching financial literacy to youth is increasingly a priority for community leaders.
Junior Achievement (JA) helps young people connect what they learn in school with life outside the classroom. JA Finance Park is their capstone program for personal financial planning and career exploration. At the culmination of this teacher-led program, students visit JA Finance Park, a realistic on-site community, to put into practice what they've learned by developing and committing themselves to a personal budget.
Over four days, Washington Trust hosted more than 215 students from Innovation High School, East Valley High School, Flett Middle School, and Glover Middle School for JA Finance Park. Using iPads, Students began by answering pre-simulation questions and sharing some of their interests. They then receive a life scenario that includes their job, marital status, and number of children. With this information, they subtract their taxes to get their net monthly income (NMI).
It's then off to navigating daily life and its expenses. From housing and utilities to transportation and vacations, students get hands-on experience of how to budget, invest, and save with their NMI and life situation. The long-term impacts of decisions around education and borrowing are also displayed. The result is an understanding of how to:
- Evaluate the risks and benefits of saving and investing.
- Evaluate risk and recognize insurance as a way to minimize it.
- Identify the advantages and disadvantages of using credit and debit cards.
- Implement the components of a successful budget.
- Create a successful budget.
- Think about taxes and understand how they affect everyone.
One of the driving themes of JA Finance Park is teaching participants to pay themselves first; that if they don’t put money into their savings account, nobody will. Emphasis is placed on the creation and consistent maintenance of a savings plan, deciding on specific savings goals, and allocating funds regularly to achieve them. The approach of automatically diverting part of their NMI to savings before looking at it as spending money is encouraged.
Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, JA has over 100 local areas in the US. Starting In 1975, JA began working in the classroom with their Project Business middle schoolers. Over the years they have expanded activities and broadened their scope to include in-school and after-school students. Washington Trust has a long history partnering with the organization. Brandon Rose, Manager of downtown Spokane’s Main Branch, currently serves as the organization’s Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho Board Chair.
For more information and resources to support your financial health, visit our financial education page.