This brokerage firm wants to financially prepare teens for adulthood

Tue, Oct 5, 2021, 1:16 PM 2 min read

One of the world's largest asset managers is using its foundation to educate America’s middle and high school students in financial literacy through free courses.

“Our goal is to make every teenager across America financially prepared for their adulthood,” Carrie Schwab, president of the Charles Schwab Foundation and managing director at Charles Schwab Co., recently shared with Yahoo Finance Live.

Since less than 10% of students in low-income schools have guaranteed access to financial education, the Foundation saw the need for financial literacy lessons. Schwab Moneywise America was created by financial experts and is divided into 22 modules to be taught and led by trained employee-volunteers, Schwab explained.

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Through a partnership with Donors Choose, Charles Schwab employee-volunteers will be matched with nonprofits like the Boys and Girls Club of America or public schools across America to teach the curriculum both in person and virtually. The free personal finance courses will also be made available to teachers in underserved communities through the foundation’s cooperation with the Council of Economic Education Center, Schwab explained.

“Many schools are under-resourced, lack money, teachers, or even the teachers don't really understand money management,” she said. “We're trying to bridge that gap by providing the curriculum, side by side with teachers, and...offering it virtually for free, that way we can reach every teen in America."

Schwab predicts that teaching the principles of personal finance in schools will serve students later in life and in their careers just as much as their core subjects.

“Financial literacy is critical to being a prepared and productive employee,” Schwab said. “The lack of knowledge out there [shows] how important financial literacy [is].”