Instead of sleep-inducing PowerPoint slides and a lecture, Belinda Pfeiffer, a family and consumer sciences educator, uses Money Habitudes for Teens to connect with teenagers in schools and youth groups. When using Money Habitudes with homebuyer/homeowner classes and with senior citizens, the cards help put people at ease, get them to open up, participate, and make classes more enjoyable. Working with high school students, low-income senior citizens, and homeowners on the verge of foreclosure, Belinda Pfeiffer sees how dire the need is for financial education.
Although she addresses different issues for groups with different needs, she has developed a general class template that is effective with a variety of audiences. Usually working with only an hour, Pfeiffer, a family and consumer sciences educator with Oklahoma State University’s Extension Service, divides her class into two equal parts. The first is an introductory section using Money Habitudes to engage students and help them better understand themselves. The second builds on the habits-and-attitudes piece and includes practical financial skills.
Although learning something about personal finances is better than nothing, Pfeiffer says that what most kids get in high school is too little, too late.
“A lot of times, they don’t get financial ed until they’re seniors. But, by that time, they’re graduating. They should have known this stuff before they were seniors so they could start saving a little bit and thinking about college, but they don’t get it until it’s too late,” she says.
This deficiency is hard to ignore as the symptoms trickle through society. However, Pfeiffer notes that there is a nationwide push to increase the amount of financial education that young people receive; she’s even started providing financial programming for 4-H’s Cloverbuds, kids ages 5-8.
“There is a big need for it because we see a lot of bankruptcy and lots of credit card problems,” she says, noting the burden falls on schools and youth groups because parents are not necessarily comfortable or capable themselves in this arena.
“They don’t have the time to sit down with their kids. And they don’t share the financial situation in their home. It’s like, ‘Let’s not talk about it.’ Parents just deal with it and don’t include the kids.”
Thus, Pfeiffer works with schools and groups like 4-H to increase financial literacy. Through Extension, she promotes curricula from NEFE (National Endowment for Financial Education) and programs like Reality Check where students manage their expenses for a simulated adult life. However, she largely builds financial literacy through her classes in school classrooms, 4-H youth groups, and at 4-H’s regional county leadership conference for students 13-18 (where she offered the event’s first financial education session; it attracted three sessions of 20 students).
Typically, students identify a pattern in the Money Habitudes statement cards that resonates with them. Pfeiffer could cover another money management topic in this initial half-hour, but she says that starting with personal attitudes and behavior is like an investment so the rest of her lesson sinks in more. Before deciding to change spending habits or assess income and expenditures, individuals must understand their current behavior. Using the cards prompts participants to read statements, recognize their traits, and think, ‘Yes, that’s me.’ People often express surprise, exclaiming, ‘I can’t believe that!’ ‘I do do that!’ You hear these comments the whole time they’re reading these cards! It’s an eye-opener,” she says.
“It’s not a PowerPoint! Doing it, rather than just sitting there listening and reading or having someone read to them. It is more effective and addresses one of my pet peeves about workshops. The cards, in this case, engage them in an activity, and then they share. I just think it’s a better learning setting than doing a PowerPoint or lecture the whole time. It gets them involved and ready to listen,” she says.
Typically, students see a pattern in the Money Habitudes statement cards with which they identify. Pfeiffer could use this initial half-hour to cover another money management topic, but she says that starting with personal attitudes and behavior is like an investment so the rest of her lesson sinks in more. Before sitting down and deciding to change spending habits or assess income and expenditures, individuals must understand their current behavior. Using the cards prompts participants to read statements, recognize their traits, and think, ‘Yes, that’s me.’ People often express surprise, exclaiming, ‘I can’t believe that!’I do do that! You hear these comments the whole time they’re reading these cards! It’s an eye-opener,” she says.
With a little bit of coaching from the instructor, students connect how their Habitude type plays into why they’re making a budget, tracking their expenses, or setting personal money goals. Interestingly, she sees how – at least anecdotally – students who have had real-life money management experiences by undertaking 4-H agricultural projects seem to have a better sense of financial skills and priorities versus other youth and adult groups. Following Money Habitudes, she may use tools like Iowa State University’s Allowance Game, which teaches students to prioritize spending among various categories.
When Pfeiffer had to conduct a last-minute presentation for foster grandparents – who earn a small stipend to work as classroom mentors and aides – she decided to try using a variant of her typical class structure (but replaced the Teen cards with the adult version). After all, even though foster grandparents tend to be a low-income group, they’d been paying bills for decades. They didn’t want to be lectured about managing their money.
“I introduced it at a meeting where all four counties [in her district] came together, thinking they would hate it, but I did it anyway. As a result, foster grandparent organizations are now calling me, asking for presentations during their district meetings. They appreciate the engagement it brings,” she says. In this case, the cards served as a foot in the door and aided Pfeiffer in promoting her classes through word of mouth. “While I cover the entire financial aspect, they insist on incorporating the cards because they value the insights and results,” she adds.
Regardless of the audience to which Pfeiffer is speaking, she knows it’s usually a group that is not enthusiastic about the topic. That makes for a challenging and potentially unpleasant environment in which to learn – and to teach.
“There are not many people who want to hear about financial education,” she says.
Seeing that the Money Habitudes activity made for a better learning and teaching environment in her other classes, Pfeiffer added the cards to her homebuyers and homeowners workshops; the cards augment the curriculum outlined by the Homebuyer Educators Association. Here the cards help couples feel more comfortable with each other and better understand how they handle money. When fearing foreclosure and feeling caught in a contentious situation, such breakthroughs are a positive, hopeful step.
I’ve used the cards [with them], and it always amazes them to see how their spouse thinks about money. I just think they’re a good tool,” she says.
However, beyond merely enhancing people’s comfort with their partners in her pre-foreclosure classes, the Money Habitudes cards also cultivate broader goodwill among the entire class. They place people on equal footing, render the material more approachable, and nurture a more upbeat, supportive, and cohesive group, says Pfeiffer.
“They have to come to the meeting; they’re required. And they’re resentful and embarrassed. But that’s what’s nice about using the cards: it gets them busy, it gets them involved in it and then they start sharing,” she says of the common bonds that Money Habitudes establishes, turning aloof strangers into sympathetic supporters. “They look at it and they see themselves and they hear others making the same comments. It gets them to talk.”
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