Financial literacy is a critically important skill—for people of all ages. Recent statistics shine a spotlight on the effects of gaps in financial literacy, especially when compounded by rising costs of living: Collectively, Americans are carrying over a trillion dollars of credit card debt and the rates of missed payments by borrowers are rising.
At Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, we help kids build a financial foundation that will benefit them throughout their lives. We know these skills can help them avoid potentially devastating financial decisions.
California legislators agree. They recently passed a bill that requires a one-semester personal finance course to be available for all California high school students by the 2027-2028 school year; the class will be a graduation requirement beginning in the 2030-2031 school year.
In our Clubs, personal finance education starts in elementary school with curriculum that helps kids connect financial decisions to their real-world impacts. We partner with JA BizTown to provide members with a visit to a simulated town—where they operate banks, manage businesses, balance checkbooks, and even vote. This fun event starts building a foundation of financial readiness in our youngest members.
Middle and high schoolers learn about saving, investing, responsible spending, and entrepreneurship through programs that emphasize engaging case studies and real-world examples.
This year, we partnered with Michael Liu, who works in asset management, to facilitate a project-based financial literacy program with middle schoolers at John Adams Middle School Branch. Members worked together to learn about personal finance concepts and created a Club Bucks store. Learn more about this initiative through this interview with Michael!
A Q&A with Michael Liu
Why is financial literacy important?
Financial literacy is crucial because it equips young people with the knowledge and life skills needed to live up to their full potential. A lack of financial education can perpetuate poverty and lead to unwise financial decisions with lifelong consequences as students graduate high school and enter the real world.
Imagine a young person who just graduated from high school and is inundated with credit card offers and the ability to Buy Now Pay Later. She takes on $10,000 of credit card debt, not knowing what a 30% annual interest rate means over time. If she can’t afford the payments, this can cause her to get trapped in a debt spiral that she can’t escape from.
Or imagine a high schooler who is evaluating post-graduation options. The calculus of going to college has changed, and accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt without being intentional about one’s field of study and career prospects after college may be imprudent. There are options outside of the traditional four-year degree such as trade school, certificate programs, entering the workforce, or even enlisting in the military that can all be considered.
On the flip side, a young person who learns how to budget and the importance of investing can set themselves up for success. Teaching about the power of compound returns is one of my favorite topics. If a young person sets aside just $10,000 in the S&P 500 stock index (a collection of the 500 largest companies in the US), after 20 years—without making another single contribution—it will grow to $67,275. After 40 years, it will grow to $452,593! It makes a tremendous difference if someone starts investing even modest amounts in their 20s compared to later in life.
The need for financial literacy is especially important in under resourced communities. Some families may not have a bank account and deal in the cash economy. Children from these households may not learn about financial concepts at home. Yet 100% of students will need this knowledge, regardless of what career path they pursue. Financial education can level the playing field and have trickle up effects through learners sharing this knowledge with their families.
Tell us about the Financial Literacy Program you led at JAMS.
The idea for the program was to bring financial literacy education to middle schoolers. The JAMS Clubhouse was an ideal fit given the support of Club leadership and their commitment to providing quality programming for the students. The program was designed to teach students basic business concepts and personal finance. I covered topics such as entrepreneurship, budgeting, comparison shopping, opening a business, and even taxes. The program was based around teaching these concepts through project-based learning and the student-run school store. Classes leading up to the store launch were interactive and discussion based.
See what a discussion on taxes with middle schoolers looks like.
How many students at JAMS participated?
The whole Club participated in the earning of Club Bucks and the store launch day. The core group of JAMS business club members was about 10 students, who attended regular sessions and were responsible for all aspects of the store planning and launch.
See more photos of the store launch day!
How did you develop the program?
I developed the program through close collaboration with the branch director Juliet Curry and site coordinator Betta Dawson. We had numerous meetings leading up to the program launch discussing how we could best teach financial and business literacy to the Club participants based on what the students were interested in. It is important to meet students where they are at. We decided that a student-run school store would be a natural fit as it helped complement an existing “Club Bucks” initiative. Many financial and business lessons could be learned through a more formalized program and by giving the students full autonomy over the store planning and launch.
I also took inspiration from John Whitaker, an elementary school teacher at Westland School, who has been running a student-led school store for many years in his classes. He graciously shared his learnings and materials with me. Lastly, I utilized technology tools such as ChatGPT to help come up with lesson plans, interesting activities, and even financial literacy related jokes for the class!
What is it like to work with middle schoolers?
At first, it was terrifying! I haven’t interacted with this age group in decades and didn’t know how they would respond to learning about money and business. As I was teaching the first class, I found that working with middle schoolers was incredibly rewarding yet challenging. They are curious, energetic, and eager to learn about financial topics, but they also have limited attention spans and care about different things than high schoolers just a few years older than them. Meeting students where they are and speaking in a way that is relevant to them was one of the biggest learnings for me. I found that keeping the sessions interactive, fun, and tying it to why it mattered to them was an effective approach.
Tell us about the student-led Club Bucks Store. How did you ensure the students took the lead?
The students were responsible for all aspects of planning and running the store, including coming up with a marketing plan (store name, spreading the word to other Club members), understanding the customer needs, deciding what items to stock the store with, and researching where to buy the items all while staying within budget!
I viewed my role more as a facilitator and guide rather than as lecturer. I took much inspiration from the Case Method style of teaching, which focuses on student-led learning through real-world scenarios and discussions. During the classes, students could voice their ideas and take responsibility for different roles within the store. This not only taught them financial principles but also leadership and teamwork skills.
How did you get involved in this work?
When I was in high school, I wanted to be a youth pastor. In my first year of college—as I was browsing books in the library—by chance I came across the book Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. The book was about the author’s experience on Wall Street and described how exciting and rewarding a career in finance could be. It was also my first exposure to the world of finance. I immediately switched paths and decided to pursue a career in the financial services industry. However, this desire to have an impact on young people still lives within me today.
Over the past 15 years of working on Wall Street and in asset management, I have seen firsthand that knowledge is power, and that financial literacy knowledge is a superpower that institutions and the wealthy possess. My hope is that every high schooler in America can be equipped with the basic knowledge of personal finance and investing by the time they graduate high school.
Thus, I began volunteering to teach financial literacy at a local high school and at the Boys and Girls Club to bring this knowledge to youth in my community. I am encouraged by the response from the students, teachers, and parents. I expect to continue to contribute to the mission of equipping young people with the superpower of financial literacy knowledge and expanding impact in the future.
To learn more about the program or connect with Michael directly, reach out to him on LinkedIn. Connect with Michael!
This program was an incredible complement to our suite of financial literacy curriculum, and we look forward to continuing its growth for our members. Thank you, Michael, for generously sharing your time with Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica!
