Apr 13, 2016

NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks To Laura Levine, President of Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy

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It’s April…and I can’t imagine having a better guest for Financial Literacy Month than Laura Levine, the President of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. In our wide-ranging conversation, we discussed Laura’s short and long-term goals for Jump$tart, the importance of their teaching training initiative, and how the personal finance landscape has changed over time.

Thanks to Laura for sharing her insights on such questions as:

  • What are the goals for your organization this year and in the future?
  • What are teachers searching for on the Jump$tart Clearinghouse? What resources are in greatest demand?
  • What is the philosophy underlying the Jump$tart teacher training initiative?
  • How has personal finance education changed over time?
  • How can teachers persuade their schools to make finance education a requirement?
Details:
  • 0:00~0:35 – Introduction
  • 0:35~1:31 – History of Jump$tart
  • 1:31~4:15 – Laura’s passion for financial literacy
  • 4:15~5:49 – How personal finance education has changed
  • 5:49~6:43 – Impact of technology on the youth of today and their relationship to money
  • 6:43~9:32 – Jump$tart’s goals and initiatives for 2016
  • 9:32~14:36 – Teacher Training Alliance initiative
  • 14:36~16:31 – The Jump$tart Clearinghouse
  • 16:31~19:45 – What are teachers looking for at the Clearinghouse?
  • 19:45~24:08 – The evolution of the Jump$tart National Conference
  • 24:08~27:35 – Changes in the structure of workshops at the conference
  • 27:35~27:55 – A word from our sponsor
  • 27:55~31:57 – How have national standards for K-12 personal finance education changed?
  • 31:57~34:24 – How paying for college fits into a personal finance class
  • 34:24~37:35 – How a teacher can persuade their school/district to make personal finance a requirement
  • 37:35~40:55 – Activities for Financial Literacy Month
  • 40:55~44:12 – Federal efforts to teach personal finance
  • 44:12~47:30 – Longer-term goals for Jump$tart
  • 47:30~49:02 – The importance of educating people about personal finance
  • 49:02~52:10 – Three personal finance tips
  • 52:10~53:05 – Conclusion
Resources:
Notable quotes:
  • “We are looking an awful lot not just at teacher training but how to utilize technology to do it more and to do it better.”
  • “We have looked for any ways we can help teachers get them to the conference because when they get here they are extremely motivated to absorb what our partners bring.”
  • “Teachers are the best advocates to getting personal finance education going at their schools.”
  • “Our work never ends. There will always be new consumers that will need to learn this [personal finance] and they won’t learn it through osmosis.”

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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