In many high schools, in addition to the standard science and history courses, teens can take optional cooking and shop classes, yet surprisingly many schools still don’t offer basic courses on financial literacy—how to manage money, how to save, and how to make it grow. This leads to teens graduating without having been taught even rudimentary money management skills.
But investment powerhouse Charles Schwab is hoping to change that. Schwab is launching two programs aimed at helping America’s teens become financially literate. The first is called Moneywise America, which will be available to teens across the country, and especially target youths in under-resourced communities and schools. The program will feature a complete financial literacy curriculum and be backed by Schwab employee volunteers who will help facilitate it. The Moneywise program will be offered for free to schools and nonprofits who don’t have their own financial literacy content.
The second program sees Charles Schwab supporting the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) with financial literacy and money management skills for girls as young as kindergartners and going up to grade 12. While the Moneywise America program launches today, the GSUSA will not launch until 2022.
Announcing the new initiatives, Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of Charles Schwab Foundation, said, “our vision is to prepare every teen in America to achieve financial freedom by helping fill the financial education gap most schools struggle to address. The ability to make sound money decisions shouldn’t be considered a ‘nice to have’ or elective life skill. Everyone needs it. Access to financial education is unequal in our country. Schwab wants to help level the playing field by making free, high-quality financial education accessible to everyone.”
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