To kick off Financial Literacy Month on Structured Settlements 4Real let's give a nod to my old friend Amy Butte, who published an interesting article with the above title in the Huffington Post last month.
Pondering the questions "Sex or money? Condoms or internal rate of return? Which of these highly charged topics and terms would you prefer (or prefer not) to talk to your kids about?", Butte frames the issues expertly. While TILE's primary focus is young adults with a high net worth, we see a parallel in our space to the need for financial education of tort victims and their families particularly those that recover significant amounts as the result of a wrongful death of a parent, lottery winners and others who experience "sudden money" events.
Those of us who already use new media tools such as blogging, video podcasting recognize that young people communicate in a whole new way (e.g. texting, Facebook, digital media). Butte says (and I agree) that we need to teach financial principles in a tone and medium they can relate to. Make it engaging, not boring.
Butte is CEO of TILE Financial (The Investing Learning Environment), which serves young adults who want to take control of their financial lives but have limited ways to learn, build knowledge and gain independence through an innovative new media platform.
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