by Elisabeth Donati | Mar 21, 2018 | Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy Articles for Parents, Financial Literacy Principles, Latest News, Money Camps
Guess what time it is? It’s financial education for your kids time!
It’s time to do whatever you can to ensure that your children have enough financial smarts when they finally leave your house that they can not only survive but thrive out in this seemingly big, scary, exciting world full of opportunity we call adult life.
The challenge with ensuring that your kids know what to do with the money they make (assuming they figure out how to make some), is that, generally speaking, parents don’t know what or how to teach their kids and schools either don’t teach them about money or don’t teach them the right stuff to be truly financially responsible in life.
So…what’s a parent to do? Well, you have a few choices (some of which we can provide!):
- You can teach them yourself! And just because YOU don’t know doesn’t mean you can’t learn and then teach them OR learn together. In fact, kids are usually relieved when parents admit they don’t know something and aren’t perfect. Suggest to your kids that you learn together OR you learn first and then share with your kids. And oh, it’s critical that you practice what you’re teaching yourself or the information won’t stick! A simple approach to teaching financial education at home is our Creative Cash for Kids Home Study program. You can learn more at www.innerwealthpublishing.com/creativecashforkids.php
- You can make sure they are learning in school. If your child’s teacher isn’t teaching financial education, approach them with the idea and even offer to find and purchase a curriculum for the teacher to use. This way not only will YOUR child learn about money and investing but so will lots of other children as well. Our Money Game is a great solution and an easy to use, fun to play and teach financial education program for all. You can learn more at www.winthemoneygame.com.
- Learn to teach financial education and offer to come into your child’s classroom, or any classroom, and teach the subject yourself. This is extremely helpful since most teachers are so swamped with rules, regulations and testing, they can barely even consider teaching a non-mandated subject. They’ll thank you for this!
- Which brings up another idea…if it isn’t already, help get financial educated mandated in your state or at least in your school district. Yes, this will take some work but it’s ‘worth’ it in so many ways.
- Get different money games and have money education events for your kids and their friends at your home on a regular basis. Be crazy and invite entertaining (i.e., not boring) financial professionals in to play with the kids, answer money questions, etc. It’s a great idea to provide prizes and such to get the kids interested in joining you for ‘money nights.’
- If you have a teen, pay them to read financial books. Pay them $10 to $25 per book but have them do a short report on each chapter and have them tell you what they learned and how they might apply it in their lives. Start with any of the Robert Kiyosaki books and proceed from there. It might be the best investment you make in your child’s eventual independence.
- Let your child be involved with anything and everything you do regarding money, running the house, investing, insurance, credit cards, etc. The more you expose them to now, the more they will be aware of when they leave home.
- Send them to a ‘money camp’, like our summer Camp Millionaire or Moving Out! for Teens camps in Santa Barbara. They learn about money, investing, belief systems, assets, liabilities, planning and so much more and they have so much fun doing it. You can check them out at www.campmillionaire.com.
And last, but not least, it’s critical that children grow up knowing it’s perfectly OK to TALK about money.
As human beings, we tend to make money ‘mean’ more than it actually is. We tend to think that people with more money are better, smarter, more important, luckier, etc. when in truth, money is just a tool to reach your dreams and help others reach theirs.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s make sure your kids never have to move home after they move out (unless you need or want them to that is!).
If you have questions or need guidance, give us a call at 805-957-1024.
We’re here to help. Making sure kids learn about money is what we live for!
by Elisabeth Donati | Jan 1, 2016 | Financial Literacy, Latest News, Media Attention, Money Camps, Uncategorized
Santa Barbara, California – Creative Wealth Intl., LLC announces their exciting new women’s financial workshop, Celebrating Women & Wealth, to be held in Santa Barbara, CA, March 12-13, 2016 at the fabulous Fess Parker Resort.
It’s not a secret that many women have a difficult time understanding money in a way that helps them be financially successful. After all, we’re rarely taught about money and investing in school or at home. Fortunately, help is right around the corner.
Creative Wealth, well-known for their unique, eye-opening, highly-effective, fun and engaging youth money camps on all things wealth related, recently announced the kick-off of their new women’s program with a special women’s workshop called, “Celebrating Women & Wealth” for women age 16 and up.
Experts agree, money is one of the most misunderstood substances on the planet, especially among women in a culture that often leaves them at a distinct disadvantage. Here are a few reasons women struggle with money:
- Women live longer than men requiring more money needed for retirement.
- Women’s health-care is often more expensive than men’s and high health care costs often make a huge difference in women’s ability to stay healthy.
- Since 50% of marriages end in divorce, women often wind up raising children on their own with little to no alimony or child support.
- Women lose, on average, 14 years of earning potential due to raising children on one end and taking care of elderly parents on the other.
- Women have a hard time talking about money…they are full of shame embarrassed because they don’t understand it.
The truth is that women, however, are often better investors than men once they learn the ropes. Clearing up confusions about money and creating wealth can quickly transform a woman’s life.
In that spirit, Creative Wealth, a leader in financial literacy education, recently announced this new women’s workshop focused on teaching women a whole new way to think about money…a feminine way. Celebrating Women & Wealth is scheduled for March 12-13, 2016 and will be led by Elisabeth Donati, creator of Camp Millionaire and The Money Game, and Marjean Holden, Actress and International Transformational Trainer. Both instructors are experts in Accelerated Learning Techniques that promise to make the workshop fun and engaging for everyone.
Asked why offer a financial program just for women, Elisabeth Donati, owner of Creative Wealth stated, “Because money means different things to women. We think about it differently and it’s just easier for us to learn about money and investing in a room full of supportive women like ourselves.”
According to Donati, the program will include a look at “The Six M’s of Money” (minding, making, managing, multiplying, mending and mentoring), the art of making peace with money, the critical difference between earning and making money, a simple money management system that really works, a get-out-of-debt fast technique to help reduce cut stress and put women back in control of their money, how to talk to a spouse or child about money, and much more.
Registration is available at www.CelebratingWomenandWealth.com/workshop. Tickets are $50 per seat, scholarships and volunteer positions available. Ages 16 and up are welcome.
Testimonials from past attendees have been quite passionate. D. Allen stated, “It is fabulous to know that I now have the potential to create financial freedom for myself. The skills and habits taught in this workshop gave me hope where I had given up. I believe everything is possible now because of this workshop. Thank you!”
For more information: http://celebratingwomenandwealth.com/workshop.
Workshop flyer available here: http://www.celebratingwomenandwealth.com/downloads/CWW-Event-Flyer-LR.jpg
Contact: Elisabeth Donati at 805-957-1024
freedom@celebratingwomenandwealth.com
www.CelebratingWomenandWealth.com
Hope to see you there!
by Elisabeth Donati | Mar 29, 2015 | Latest News, Uncategorized, What you can do
What’s Wrong With Our Schools
The longer I am in the financial education arena here in the United States, the deeper into trouble I see our education system getting in terms of truly educating our younger generation to be able to grow up and live the purposeful, happy lives they can dream up for themselves.
According to Wikipedia, the definition of education is…
“Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and or research. Education may also include informal transmission of such information from one human being to another.“
From what I have personally witnessed, most of what our children are learning in school is rote knowledge. Our system is inherently lacking in the ability to teach skills, values, beliefs and habits that will help our kids lead those purposeful, happy lives as adults. It’s also lacking in its ability to teach leadership skills and produce our nation’s next general of leaders.
There are plenty of reasons why our education system is failing our children. Most of it stems from the Johnson Era’s initial Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The ESEA was a major federal law authorizing federal spending on programs to support K-12 schooling. ESEA is the largest source of federal spending on elementary and secondary education. It was actually part of the Johnson Administration’s War on Poverty.
We now know the law by its last iteration, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) which, by all accounts and standards, has LEFT all of our children behind in a big way. I’d like to encourage you to read more about the ESEA and NCLB so you understand what’s driving the bus our education system into the ground, and taking our youth with it.
The initial law didn’t actually support schooling. It supported the ‘opportunity’ for schooling of low income children. Although NCLB covers numerous federal education programs, the law’s requirements for testing, accountability, and school improvement receive the most attention. But the thing that really gets me is that while the law that was put in affect required states, school districts, and schools to ensure all students are proficient in grade-level math and reading by 2014, Wisconsin, and 42 other states have applied for waivers because they can’t meet this requirement!
Hello…does that mean only seven of our proud United States of America have actually succeeded in some level of education of its youth? Who knows but what it does mean is that something has gone terribly wrong.
What’s Basically Wrong with the USA’s School Systems
Our education system in the United States (for the most part I’m referring to public schools in general), is suffering because of the following basic issues:
- We’re not preparing our youth for real life. We don’t teach them a trade or skills in order to make a living. We don’t teach them how to parent. They receive no information on how to grow up and have healthy, happy families. They don’t learn how to have healthy, long term relationships. They are taught to follow instead of encouraged to be leaders. They aren’t able to communicate and think their Facebook followers are their friend. They aren’t taught about money and investing. They have no idea how to be healthy for a long period of time. And that’s just a short list of the skills, habits, principles and concepts they need to be productive, happy human beings.
- The next issue is the WAY we teach. Most education is boring, tightly controlled by testing and administrations that don’t really know HOW to teach except to stand up and lecture. Human beings learn better through visually learning and experiencing. And putting boys behind desks for hours at a time to take notes and memorize information is sheer torture for them. I consider this child abuse in a huge way.
- Testing too much and too often. It is well known that testing stresses students out and doesn’t provide for or create a favorable learning environment.
- Forcing the students to memorize and learn too much basic boring information that just isn’t relevant to them. Children will tell you flat out they have no idea why they are learning what they are learning in schools and parents and adults quickly admit that they learned most of what they really needed to be able to live their lives AFTER they left school.
- Our children are being drugged to death and the culprit is mostly what we are feeding them. For a great book on how to fix most ADD and ADHD problems, do yourself a favor and read, Grain Brain by Dr. Perlmutter.
- Technology has taken over. Everyone thinks that the computer is the best way to teach. IT ISN’T. The old fashioned way works better. And there are tomes of material on how inadequate learning from monitors actually is. And the sitting required to do so is incredibly unhealthy on top of it all. Note: I am regularly asked by kids and teens who take my financial education programs why all teachers don’t teach like I do. I tell them I really don’t know the answer to that question but to suggest to their teachers that they look up and learn how to use accelerated learning methodologies. They are really quick simple to learn and master!
- Cell phones in the schools are causing problems right and left. Just talk to any administration who hasn’t banned them from their schools yet and you’ll find out what all the fuss is about.
- There is little to no music used or taught, little to no physical education, rarely a shop class or home economics class, not enough physical activity in their days to get the kids brains and bodies moving so they are stimulated and excited about learning.
- And lastly on this short list of what’s a very long list in reality, is our school’s and teacher’s inability to provide EFFECTIVE discipline.
The 12 Steps Needed to (Start to) Fix Our Nation’s School Systems
I, and a whole lot of other folks, could fix the nation’s school systems in a year if given the opportunity. Here are just SOME of the very simple steps I would take to fix our nation’s education system and make sure they were helping to inspire and create a whole lot more of what this country really needs…hundreds of thousands of profoundly bright, motivated leaders who want to see this country thrive again.
First and foremost, we have to figure out how to get the government out of the education process. Because everything comes back to the all-mighty dollar, schools will have to be funded equally in some other way. Our government doesn’t a clue how to run a country or keep its citizens safe and well fed, let alone know how to educate our children.
Then, I would do the following (all at once):
- Change the way teachers teach…make them all experts in accelerated learning techniques, remove the desks, add chairs and tables and outside areas to learn in as well as build gardens at every school. Ever schools with little to no room can use creative PVC gardens to grow healthy foods for the students and teach the students how to be self-sufficient.
- Remove most of the testing or better yet, make all testing open book so everyone learns together and learning is fun again.
- Put the kids in uniforms so they stopped judging each other based on what they were wearing.
- Ban cell phones from classrooms and schools to keep the kids from being constantly distracted and keep them from using photos and videos against their peers.
- Get their minds out of the computers and back into the real world.
- Let the teachers TEACH the way they feel is best for the kids they have in their current classrooms. Every classroom of students is different because you have different groups of kids.
- Make the kids clean up their own classrooms and school facilities so they learn not to mess up their own homes.
- Teach them information that’s relevant to their lives (as opposed to what they are learning now)
- Teach them all a trade or skill so they can leave school and support themselves and their families. If only 69.5% of our high school students go on to college (doesn’t mean they graduate), doesn’t it make more sense to make sure the other 30.5% learn how to support themselves? You’d think the government would realize that the more kids who leave school with a valuable skill, the less adults end up on government assistance programs.
- Add physical education back into every day. We are fat and unhealthy and movement habits start young!
- Require kids to study music. It’s proven that it helps in every other area of their lives.
- Require entrepreneurship in high school for all students. It’s only through teaching and helping people to start successful new businesses that we provide our nation with a growing pool of great new jobs.
And those are just the things I would do to get the ball rolling! This is not rocket science as they say.
Share if you agree.
by Elisabeth Donati | Dec 18, 2013 | Financial Literacy, Latest News, Train-the-Trainer, Uncategorized, What you can do
December 18, 2013
Happy Holidays!
I’m currently in the Caribbean, about to be the matron of honor for the lady I stayed with a few years ago. She’s experiencing a lot of stress before the wedding and in a lot of pain. It is so interesting how we human beings interpret our lives in ways that bring pain instead of joy.
I wanted to touch upon the holidays to invite you to check in with your own experience this season. How is you feeling so far? Are you enjoying your days, getting ready for however you do this season? If you aren’t, you might want to stop, regroup and choose differently. Remember, it really is all about choice and only you can choose to create the experience you want.
I personally don’t celebrate the holidays in a traditional way. I do, however, enjoy the time to reflect on the past year and think about the year to come…and find my way to warm waters in the south that I can swim in and enjoy.
I did want to share one of the things I found myself teaching this year to all sorts of people…Rarely is anything an emergency.
Being in the Caribbean, you really get a good sense that nothing much is an emergency. Everyone is very laid back and relaxed and I find myself falling into afternoon naps, slow walks with an 11 year old I could bring home in my suitcase and just overall, slowing down. I’m not sure why we Americans (especially) get into a pace that’s not healthy for our bodies and spirits, but most of us do. I’m planning on bringing that peace back with me again.
Now for my little gift to you…
If you’re sitting there reading these words, you probably understand that there are many things you can do during the holidays but the things that bring you the most pleasure and joy are the things you do to bring others pleasure and joy. Isn’t it fun how that works?
And because most of you are on my email list because you really care about making sure your children and students learn how to handle money wisely, I wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to save a little moolah this season making that happen since often times it does take money to bring others pleasure and joy.
2013 HOLIDAY COUPONS for you!
Since I’ve made our Camp Millionaire Curriculum available online, we’ve had a lot of people take advantage of it. No traveling, no flight. Just sign up, log on, watch the videos at your leisure and start teaching the program in your classroom, youth group or for any group of kids ages 10 and up.
Use coupon code HOLIDAY2013 to receive $100 off this new Camp Millionaire Online Program.
OR, if you’ve been dying to get your hands on The Money Game to teach your kids about money, use Coupon Code MONEYGAME2013 to get 25% off either the Downloadable Kit or the Ready-to-Play version.
And if there’s something else you have been wanting from our financial literacy store, use Coupon Code HOLIDAY25 to get 25% off!
That’s all for now.
Miss E (aks Elisabeth)
Your Financial Literacy Lady
by Elisabeth Donati | Sep 9, 2013 | Burning Financial Questions, Financial Literacy Principles, Latest News, Uncategorized
I have been traveling this month (September 2013) to visit family, making the rounds to Portland, Oregon to visit my son and my sister and her family, on down to Corvallis (my alma mater…go Beavers) to visit a long-time girlfriend and then over the Cascade Mountains to visit my house-bound mother who has COPD (this is doctor-speak for smoked cigarettes for decades and now can’t breath without the help of an oxygen machine) where I clean, re-organize, run errands and so forth for a week or so.
I also get to connect with my younger (but taller!) brother who I adore in ways he probably doesn’t know.
While doing all of this traveling and visiting, I also get to meet a lot of people who, for whatever reason, seem to need to share the trials of their lives with me. The sharing of those trials is what today’s blog is about.
Sidebar…
A little about me…I have always wanted a simple life; a life that didn’t take a lot of money to maintain and a life where I felt purposeful. I’ve never seen the point of ‘finding’ my one purpose because quite honestly, I have never believed in that high pressure idea. I noticed early on that if I was helping someone with something, I felt great about it and realized that that was living my purpose.
OK, back to the story…
What constantly amazes me is how so many human beings have chosen to create such complicated, overwhelming and expensive lives that cost a fortune in time, energy and money to maintain.
The sadder piece is that these same people don’t seem to be enjoying the lives they’ve created because they don’t have enough TIME to enjoy them…they are too busy working to support their created lives.
How to Create a Simple Life
All of this expressed stress and overwhelm gets me thinking about my own continual quest to make life as simple and easy to maintain as possible. I believe it comes down to one thing…THINKING AHEAD.
Notice I didn’t say setting goals or planning or changing your belief system or any of the other common notions being presented by today’s new-age money and lifestyle gurus.
I said THINK AHEAD…specifically, think about every choice you make concerning your lifestyle:
- Partner…are they high maintenance or not? Are they healthy or now? Will their habits keep them safe and healthy or….?
- Cars…are they going to cost you a fortune in gas, maintenance and insurance? How much do you have to work to afford the payments if you’re about to take on a car loan? Is there a less expensive way to acquire reliable transportation that is easier to support?
- Homes (rental)…are you taking on too high a monthly rental payment for your current income level? Could you be sharing an apartment or home with someone else to cut costs or chores? Cooperative living is increasing in several age brackets for just this reason.
- Homes (purchase)…can you really afford it? Do you really want to owe someone that much money? Do you really want to be strapped to a building without the freedom to leave it anytime you wish? (Security is a myth). Have you fallen for the ‘but you can write off all of the interest’ idea to the point where you’re working harder than ever to make the payments for that house that’s giving you such a wonderful write off?
- Children…do you know how much having one healthy child costs to raise? How about two? Three? Have you thought ahead to the amount of money you’re going to have to be making when they are teens (unless you buy into my idea of getting them to create businesses as early as possible to make their own money).
- Pets…do you know what it costs to feed a dog for 15 years? What about getting them shots, taking them to the vet when they get hit by a car or develop hip issues (and they will)? Note: don’t get a bird unless you want a lifetime companion that never grows up!
- School loans…yes, I said school loans. Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT investments. They are huge unpleasant chains around yours and your children’s futures. Borrow money for education wisely!
I could go on but you get the idea.
The point is to THINK AHEAD…as far ahead as you can…when you’re about to make a choice that may affect your time, energy and money for years to come. The challenge seems to stem from our inability to realize we WILL get older and we may just not want to continue living the same way we lived in our 20s or 30s.
If you really want to be tied to whatever it is you’re thinking of buying or acquiring and are willing to support whatever it is you’re about to add to your life, then go for it.
If you realize, like I do, that many of the things that you might enjoy in life come with huge time, energy and money requirements, you might just want to choose otherwise.
What I can tell you from personal experience is this…every time I make a choice that makes my life simpler, I breath easier and every time I make a choice that complicates any part of my life, I feel the burden of that choice and wish I’d chosen differently.
How to Uncomplicate Your Life
My coaching clients often ask me how to uncomplicate their lives once they have already made the choices that are costing them too much time, energy and money to maintain.
My favorite answer (and I often remind myself of this) is something I remind myself of all of the time and that I coined a couple of years ago:
“The only way to stop doing something is to simply stop doing it!”
Yes, sometimes it takes a little planning to stop doing something but it’s almost always worth it!
OK…go uncomplicate some aspect of your life and let us know how it feels!
by Elisabeth Donati | Feb 11, 2013 | Latest News, Uncategorized, What you can do
I’m in the market for a new bookkeeper for my boyfriend’s company, Creative Carpet Repair. He’s taken it, in less than three years, from a single man (him) operation where he ran around in his truck up and down Southern California to a full-fledged company with six full-time employees, an office and close to 300 carpet repair contractors around the country.
But that’s not the point of this blog (but I am very proud of him!).
The point is that I can’t (or rather don’t want to) handle his accounting any more. There are too many account, there’s a lot of money flowing both ways and well, it’s time we passed it on to someone trained to do this. We need someone who can look at the numbers and tell us what’s up.
Many people tell me I’m the perfect one to do this since I’m the money lady but I’m NOT the money lady…I’m the financial literacy lady and that’s a completely different expertise :).
Who is Raving About Who?
So I’ve been asking around and one of our former employees, Ms. Karen Dwyer, who left to start her own franchise, Express Personnel, started RAVING about her accountant in the post office one day where I happily ran into her.
Karen told he how great he was, how much she trusted him, that he was reasonable and did what he said he would do in a timely manner and well, you can be darned tootin’ that I got his phone number and I’m going to give him a call this week.
We all know this as personal referrals but it’s more than this. We tend to call the people that others are excited about…the ones they RAVE about.
Like the movie your best friends says you “HAVE TO SEE.”
Or the new sushi bar that makes “THE BEST RAINBOW ROLL EVER!”
Or the new consignment shop that has “THE BEST JEAN SELECTION IN TOWN!”
You get the idea…Raving = Success
Not always, but most often, when people rave about something, you can bet it’s a success. And this is a concept you can teach your kids, and especially your teens as they get older and start wanting to figure out how to get ahold of money!
Phone Book (Google) Activity
This little activity is not only fun but enlightening for the whole family. It will show you how you have been influenced in the everyday consumer choices you make both locally and nationally.
- Someone picks a topic (pizza, hair cuts, etc.). Stick with local products and services at first and then go national if you want.
- Before looking in the phone book (if you still have one…I don’t think I actually do) or searching Google, write down the businesses that come to mind. Name as many as you can and list why you’re naming them. What have you heard about them.
- If you want to add another twist, do a list of businesses you’d NOT go to as well and list why.
- Then look those businesses up in the phone book or on Google (and remember when you search to add your town to the search, for example, “Santa Barbara pizza”).
- Notice the ones that come up first or the ones that have big ads. Are they the ones you use, buy from, or visit the most often?
- Have a conversation with your kids about this concept and ask them how it might influence how they do things as they enter the professional world of business.
How Can YOU Become the Raved About One
Being the one person people rave about requires consistent delivery of the following:
- 100% integrity: you always keep your word, you show up on time, you go above and beyond the call of duty, you add value to everything you touch, you change people’s lives in ways that are meaningful to them. Remember, this may mean, as in my example above, that you keep people’s businesses running impeccably and that they can count on you.
- Be honest: telling the truth is one of the most important values you can have in the business world. With so much marketing geared toward getting us to believe just about anything, it really is hard to know who to believe. BE the one who not only is believable but is telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
- Something unique: give something that no one else gives. When you’ve given 100% and delivered what people expect, what can you do that they didn’t expect that will cause them to stand up, take notice and rave about you? By the way, YOU can set up your customer’s expectations and then surpass them every time:-).
- Set an example: people love to rave about people they admire, look up to, and respect. Other professionals also tend to be influenced by the values, habits, behaviors and attitudes of the same. When you can set a great example for someone you work for, they will start to look out for you and send referrals, i.e., rave about you.
- Be positive and happy: let’s face it…it’s just not fun to work with someone who is miserable, unhappy, sad, depressed, exhausted, complaining, whiny or too serious. Ask yourself this simple question before going out each day…”What type of person would I want to work with?”… and then go be that person.
If you take some time to help your ‘adults in training’ understand these important points, and constantly have questions about these concepts as they get older, get their first (or second, etc.) jobs, have experiences in the professional world, you’ll watch your teens turn into adults who others rave about also!
