Money, Power, Respect

Black Enterprise, June, 2000 by Carolyn M. Brown

NAIC Trustee Robert Wynn, a financial education officer for the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, has partnered with the local school district to fund a summer youth-enterprise academy. The economics day camp targets urban high school students--mostly 10th graders--and teaches them the basics of business and stock ownership, as well as leadership skills. The program also develops youth investment clubs, taking the top five students from the summer camp. Funded by grants from foundations and private donors, student teams are given $10,000 of real money to invest until graduation, upon which they split the actual funds.

* Create a Youth Entreprise Center. Work with churches in your community to establish a Youth Enterprise Center. Churches have all of the necessary ingredients to serve as a youth-business incubator: office equipment, space, funds to provide micro- or macroloans, and a built-in customer base (the congregation). "Churches are ideal because they have the resources to train kids and support their businesses, without sustaining significant costs," says Bocage. "Most churches of any size have members with a background in accounting, law and teaching who can mentor [youth]."

Starting out, you may be exposing your children to the benefits of owning a piece of America. But learning about the stock market could open doors to a host of highly paid occupations on Wall Street and beyond. Understanding how companies work and how they earn profits could give your children insight into many career opportunities in such areas as law, accounting and business management.

Brandon Celestine isn't sure whether he wants to be a plastic surgeon or a stockbroker. One thing he does know is that knowledge is power and power creates wealth. "By investing, you learn not [only] to work for money, but [also] to make your money work for you," he explains. "Someday, I want to own enough shares of a company to be able to sit on the board of directors."

For more information on DOFE, go to www.blackenterprise.com to get a complete list of all 10 principles or call 877-WEALTHY to get your free Wealth Building Kit.

RELATED ARTICLE: TRACK YOUR INVESTMENT'S PERFORMANCE

Use the charts above to help your child track the price of each stock in his/her portfolio over time. At the end of each calendar quarter--March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31--find the share price and mark it with a dot. Draw a line from last quarter's price to the current quarter's price. Watch how the stock's price changes. Keep in mind though that price is just one measure of a company's performance.

SOURCE: BIGCHARTS.COM; STEIN ROE YOUNG INVESTORS FUND

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RELATED ARTICLE: RESOURCES TO GIVE YOU A HEAD START

There are a number of resources to help children better understand business and money matters. Subscribe to newsletters such as Kidpreneurs News[TM] and Black Enterprise for Teens[TM] (www.blackenterprise.com). The latter focuses on economic and self-empowerment for ages 13 to 18, featuring profiles of young business owners plus money, management tips, while Kidpreneurs News seeks to foster the entrepreneurial spirit in children ages eight to 12, featuring profiles of historical African American entrepreneurs. Don't overlook parenting magazines such as Family Money (www.familymoney.com), which features articles on kids and money. better Investing is the NAIC's official magazine for individual investors.