It’s never too early to get kids engaged and learning about money.

Whether it’s through rock music, the debate stage or an interactive investment game, students—supported by RBC Wealth Management employees across the country—are learning that personal finance education can be both informative and fun.

Financial education is especially important as curriculum requirements in U.S. schools vary widely, and knowledge gaps persist depending on race and socioeconomic status.

According to a 2022 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) report, adults aged 18-54; people who have a high school degree or less; and individuals who identify as African American, Hispanic or Latino were most likely to experience unexpected income drops in 2021. The survey also showed that African Americans were more than twice as likely to be unbanked (adults who do not use or have access to financial services) compared to their white counterparts.

Using music to talk about personal finance

The unique approach to financial education used by nonprofit Funding the Future is why Lydia Hamilton, a senior complex administrator with RBC Wealth Management–U.S. in Denver, who serves on the nonprofit’s board of directors, fell in love with the organization in 2016.

Its mission is to educate high school students on how to make smart financial decisions, using live music and multimedia to create an interactive and exciting learning experience. In 10 years, the organization has reached 284,000 students across 36 states, Washington, D.C., and two Canadian provinces.

RBC Wealth Management–U.S. has sponsored a number of stops on the organization’s financial education tour. “The music helps the medicine go down,” Hamilton says of American rock band Gooding and other performers who travel the country playing live music and sharing personal experiences of financial hardship and success. The artists talk to students about budgeting, saving, investing, charitable giving and how they corrected financial mistakes made early in their careers.

“We like to talk about failures, that they’re not forever and you can dig yourself out of a hole,” Hamilton says. “We teach about compound interest, earning, spending, credit and loans.” It’s a different way of sharing important lessons that have long-lasting impacts.

Funding the Future has also been intentional about visiting schools in underserved communities that may have experienced generational poverty and discriminatory practices.

Learning about finance through debate

Adam Garen, a financial advisor in Minneapolis, uses the debate stage as a way to connect with young people and bring awareness to financial education.

Garen has been involved with the Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL) for several years as both a board member and volunteer judge.

“I participated in debate in high school and college, and I found it very transformational and empowering,” Garen says. “I then served as a coach for about 10 years and saw many debate programs be eliminated from public schools. Now, as a financial advisor, I can support debate with a special focus on financial education.”

Today, MNUDL has more than 1,300 students participate each year. Every spring, the organization holds a financial literacy-focused debate program that teaches students core personal finance concepts. The students research and develop arguments for decisions they’ll soon face in their own lives, such as attending a four-year university versus a vocational program, or the pros and cons of participating in the gig economy.

Former MNUDL debater Cayden Mayer jumped at the opportunity to get involved in this style of financial education debate and participated for three years in high school. Mayer, now a college student, was excited about the curriculum that isn’t taught in a traditional classroom setting, as well as the chance to network with financial professionals.

“Financial literacy debate teaches you how to argue about the subject matter, and also how to apply the concepts to your real life,” Mayer says. “I felt a lot more confident making my college decision when it came to understanding the cost.”

Preparing youth for life after high school

Helen Abe grew up in a frugal household, with a mother who valued saving and investing. While she had a role model to teach her valuable lessons, she knows that’s not the case for everyone, including many of the women and girls she interacts with when volunteering with various organizations in her community.

Abe, a financial advisor in Marin, California, has been teaching a community college class called “Wise Up: Financial Education for Women” for nearly two decades. She has also hosted high school seniors in her office for evening workshops and currently facilitates a weekend club for women on the topic of personal finance.

“Not everybody has an inspiration or a role model—I’m trying to be that for these women and girls,” says Abe, who teaches all age groups, from teens to women in their 80s.

In her practice, Abe has seen women who have always relied on their partners to handle the family finances struggle when they become widowed and suddenly need to start managing their money. As a result, she is especially passionate about teaching teenagers how to prepare for life after high school.

“I know there is a need in the community, and all of my students tell me they wish they had this learning opportunity when they were younger,” she says.

Playing “stock market”

Clifford Virgin III, a financial advisor in Florham Park, New Jersey, uses creative and fun ways to engage fourth- and fifth-graders in conversations about investing.

Virgin has been hosting “stock market” games at local elementary schools for more than two decades. During his visits, he gives students hypothetical stock options and instructs them to research and choose stocks they think will perform well. Those who have the highest-performing portfolios win a prize. 

“I also teach the kids about percentages and investing,” he says. “Then I talk to them about how, when I was growing up, my dad was at the kitchen table paying bills—he wasn’t looking at his investment portfolio.” Virgin explains that as an African American, he wants to help his community learn to plan for the long term. “I do this to give back so that the students have a leg up when they graduate, get into business and have their own stock portfolios.”

John “Buzz” Garlock and his son Cory, financial advisors in Omaha, Nebraska, also support their community using their knowledge of the stock market.

Garlock has been volunteering for more than three decades with Boys Town, a nonprofit that serves youth who are experiencing homelessness and provides mental health and medical services to families. At Boys Town, Garlock has been an assistant basketball coach and a mentor in the reading program. He also teaches investing.

Each school year, he runs a stock market game for middle schoolers.

“It’s crucial for students to be exposed to investing before they become adults and start working and have their own retirement accounts,” Garlock says. “It’s a fun way for them to learn about saving, investing and compound interest. Seeing the smiles on kids’ faces when they win is so rewarding.”