I am always on the lookout for new ways to introduce and teach money skills to teens. I have
heard a lot about using the stock market to help teens learn about investments. After doing some research, I found three different ways to use
the stock market as a teaching tool for teen financial literacy.
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Board Games: Board
games are fun and entertaining and there is no reason why we can’t learn a few
things while playing them. Teachers
often use board games to reinforce lessons that they have taught in class. Parents can even sneak a few of these into
their family game nights! The following
board games have been designed to teach stock market skills and/or personal
finance skills.
Online or virtual games:
These games can also be called paper trading or fantasy trading in
regards to the stock market. There is a
wide variety of websites and online tools for learning about stocks. Some of them mimic the “real time” stock
market and others create their own virtual stock market. Some these are free; others are not. Some are more appropriate for classroom
settings; others are designed for personal use.
The common aspect of these virtual games is that they all are designed to
teach about buying & selling stocks and evaluating your investments.
- StreetSage
- How the Market Works
- Virtual Stock Exchange Games on Marketwatch.com
- Smart Stocks
- Young Money
Purchasing real stocks: You can also have your teens purchase real stocks. They can study the market and pick a few
stocks that they think will do well.
Then they buy a few stocks and watch what happens. Teens are usually more involved in things
that have personal meaning to them so maybe this is the way to go. Invest in the Markets recently posted about
YUM Brands, Inc. which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. These are three favorite restaurants of my
kids and it got me thinking about whether they would be interested in watching
how these stocks are doing. I haven’t
introduced the idea of them buying stocks yet, but it’s definitely worth some
more thought.
The idea of using the stock market to teach financial concepts
to teens is something that I haven’t tried.
My knowledge of this is based purely on research. What do you think? Is it helpful for teens or is it too far
removed from their world? I would love
to hear some thoughts and personal stories from folks who have tried any of
these methods or would like to share additional resources.
Thank you so much for mentioning the StreetSage program (www.streetsage.com). We pride ourselves in providing one of the only online teaching tools that simulates 25-years of stock market activity to teach students about the virtues of long term investing.
ReplyDeleteOur mission is to improve financial literacy among young adults through novel approaches of practical, interactive education. Plus, it's fun!
Long term investing is hard to teach to young folks, other than standard vocabulary concepts or multiple choices tests! I like your approach of combining interactive methods with long term investment concepts.
DeleteVery interesting article. I also agree that teens should learn all about proper investing principles at an early age.
DeleteI really like the idea of purchasing real stocks! Getting kids to understand that real money is on-the-line is important not only from a risk management perspective, but also from a risk-reward perspective. I know that my family while I was growing up was mainly interested in "not losing money". But I wish I had some training with respect to the basics of valuing assets and becoming comfortable with calculated risks in order to generate a realistic return.
ReplyDeleteReally like your thought of risk-management versus risk-reward. It is definitely an area that is often overlooked when teaching kids about money.
DeleteWe have Cashflow 101 - it is fun and our ten year old suddenly understands the mechanisms of money and investing. He hasn't managed to win yet but is very close...playing the game, I mean. Introducing children to real stocks is also a good idea - in fact, discussing with them decisions about life and money of good anyway. This way they learn how to reason about it.
ReplyDeleteDoes your son play Cashflow with you or with other children his age? I volunteered with Junior Achievement last spring and was helping groups of fourth graders play an investment/business game. It was so interesting to listen to them discuss business strategies and explain their reasons for making decisions. They really were doing some high level thinking!
DeleteI have cashflow 101. It definitely is a great game. I had no clue about the others. I gotta check them out.
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you think of the others.
DeleteNice post. My Dad bought a stock for my kids in their early teens. I don't think it helped them learn much - they didn't have any skin in the game and hadn't participated in selecting it. However, our older boy (now 38) learned on his own and is doing quite well now.
ReplyDeleteRight now (1/30 until 2/12) I am giving away a copy of Rich Dad's Cash Flow 101 game on http://blog.familymoneyvalues - what a coincidence you should mention it here!
Headed over to your blog right now!
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