Handle money like Grown-ups. Financial education for Kids from the Mobiles

– It’s a pity we don’t study it at school, – Max said disappointedly.

– I’m sure, – Mia said, – that every school will have this subject in the nearest future. Because only fifty years ago people could only have dreamt about the existence of mobile phones, that most people on Earth would be able to communicate with each other from the distance. Due to the evolutional power of thought, dreams of one generation could become true for the next one. When you are a little older, I will definitely reveal all secrets of mind control to you. In the meantime, you can practice like this: imagine that you are safe and sound, happy, able to memorize perfectly well everything we are talking about and to put it all into practice, pursuing your dreams.

– Could anyone, please, reply to my other question: where did hoverboards come from? – Larry asked.

– I know! – Max was the first to reply. – They were shipped to us from China, Japan and some other countries.

– Nonsense, – Stanislav added. – At first, they were designed and manufactured at factories, and it doesn’t really matter where they were shipped from then.

– You are both right, – Larry said, – but originally, they were born in someone’s mind first. This is somebody’s realized dream. For example, the hoverboard was invented by Dean Kamen, a researcher from the US, while other engineers have improved its construction and removed the steering pole, which made the hoverboard easier to steer using not your hands but your body weight shifting from side to side…

At that moment, Bobby joined in:

– Guys, I also have an interesting task for you. I will help you to improve your memory. While drilling into finance topic, we will have to say many unusual terms which are difficult to remember. However, there is a key to any memorizing challenge. When each of you gets a bunch of such keys, you will be able to memorize any new word, even the difficult one, like magicians and wizards do. To do this, you will have to find a match to this new word among those words and expressions you already know well. So, for example, it would be easy to remember the word “permission” if you connect it with what you usually hear from your parents: “Don’t take things without permission…”

– Yes, this way I’ll never forget that one, – Daniel said, – seems like I’ve memorized it forever.

– Let’s try once more, – Stanislav said, – but this time we’ll pair the words ourselves.

– Great, – Bobby replied. – I suggest that we tried the words “assets” and “liabilities”. Can you handle these?

– Easily, – Stanislav replied. – I’ve already made them up. Our Lera is very active and self-motivated, which makes her an important “asset” of our company. On the other hand, our classmate Sveta Kukarekina is passive about everything and “liable” to staying away from our games. When I see Lera, I recall assets right away, whilst seeing Sveta reminds me of liabilities.

– Just brilliant! – Bobby exclaimed. – Dear friends, I expect more frequent usage of this first magical key from you. The second key lies in attention and repetition. When you listen to or read things attentively, do not get distracted and you will remember them all much better. And if you recite the same material on the following day, this “key” of yours will really turn to gold. And now let’s get to the third key, the last one. Any information could be “digested” better once you have told it to others, to absolutely any person you like: your classmates, friends, parents.

– Oh, no need to worry about that! We will surely share our knowledge about how to treat your finance properly with our friends and parents! – the kids all exclaimed at once.

– But don’t forget the crucial point: it’s necessary that you put this knowledge into practice, to make this your daily habit, – Bobby added.

– And how long does it take a person to acquire a new habit? Can anyone tell me? – Robby Star asked the kids.

– I know. To develop the habit, one might need 21 days at least, – Stanislav responded for everyone.

– Remember: a habit builds character while character builds destiny, – added Bobby to finish his story.

Chapter One

Where each of the kids gets a “Dream map” of their own

– Well, my young financiers, the time has come to do the most important and interesting thing. Now we are going to draw a real map of your dreams, – Robby Star said secretly.

– Wow! There will be a pirate island on mine, and I will mark the spot with buried treasure with a cross! – Max exclaimed.

– And I’ll draw the flying fairies on my map, – Lera said.

– Wait, – Stanislav said, – we should let Robby Star tell us first what kind of a map it is. I think this map should picture something we dream of and what we want to achieve. We have the same one at home, on the kitchen wall. Parents have added photos of a beautiful house, a theme park of their own and their dream car. And you know what, recently they have bought the very same car that was in the photo.

– Well done, – Robby Star praised Stanislav, – you have got everything right. You must include something you dream about in this map. I also advise you to put the map onto your bedroom wall so you could take a look at it every night before bedtime, speaking your mind and imagining your dreams to come true.

– By the way, I heard an interesting expression from my parents:

“If one has no dream of his own, he will spend his whole life working on helping others pursue their dreams”, – Stanislav said, looking proud of himself.

After a little chat and a discussion of what should be drawn on their dream maps, the kids took their pencils and got down to work.

Lera was the first to finish.

– Oh, how marvelous, – she said, admiring her own drawings, – who would have thought!

– Cool! Can we have a look? – Daniel asked, trying to peek at Lera’s masterpiece from behind her shoulder.

– Alright, here you are, – Lera unfolded the poster on the table. – The green palm trees by the sea represent the Spanish coastline. My parents had promised to take me there long time ago, but father is always busy at work, and the tour price is so high that we have to delay our trip for two years in a row. The concert hall with figurines represents my performance at the ballroom dance tournament. My partner and I win the first prize there.

– And what are these wigwams on the right? Is it an Indian village? – Max asked.

– Oh, you don’t understand! I’ve always dreamt of a camp where kids could arrive from all cities and countries, where you could live in tents, cook food on a fire and swim in the mountain river! – Lera exclaimed.

Max was the next to show his map. There was a new car on it, a tablet and a hoverboard. The last to display their masterpieces were brothers Stanislav and Daniel. They both had a cottage by the sea where they both wanted to live, mountain bikes and a theme park that looked like Disneyland.

– Great drawings! – Robby Star praised them. Your dreams turned out to be so colorful and amazing that I want to have some of these for myself.

– Then join in and start dreaming with us. Let these dreams be yours as well, – Lera suggested.

– Thank you, I will think about it, – the Mobile thanked her.

– And now, friends, choose your top-level dream and trace it with a marker, drawing number one next to it, – Larry asked. – Try to make this red line bold enough, like this. Ready? Then put number two next to your other dream, the little less significant one. Do the same with all your dreams down to the last, smallest one. Done it? Great! Now your dreams have become clear-cut and turned into goals, the importance of which you have just determined. The first step is taken. But please, mind: you will have to work hard in the nearest future to achieve these. Perhaps, you will come across some temporary defeats and disappointments, but be sure they are only your point of leverage for the further achievements and success. “Give me a lever and I’ll move the Earth”, – Archimedes, the Ancient Greek scientist once said. Ordinarily, only determined people gain success, not afraid to fail or look ridiculous and different in the eyes of others. Those who believe their dreams can be real. You definitely know such people – Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and many others.

– Coca-Cola’s creation history is a clear example of how one man could fulfill his dream about creating a unique drink, and the other man had pursued his by creating one of the largest companies in the world.

– How did they manage to do it? – Daniel asked.

Robby Star started his narration:

– In the distant year 1886, an American pharmacist John Pemberton dreamt of inventing a multi-purpose medicine from all diseases and becoming famous. However, persistent experiments have finally led to the creation of Coca-cola drink. It was called this way because its main ingredient was the tincture of coca leaves mixed with the extract of tropical cola tree nuts. Coca-Cola has turned out to be a powerful tonic. The problem was, its taste had been quite unpleasant in the beginning, so Pemberton had to work hard, mixing ingredients and updating the formula for multiple times. In the end he succeeded in improving the taste, but unfortunately, John Pemberton wasn’t able to live to the moment when Coca-Cola became popular among the people. Long after his death, a talented entrepreneur Asa Candler had found a Coca-cola manufacturing company, and also registered the trademark. Coca-Cola has been acknowledged the most valuable brand in the world for multiple times. For many years this company has been bringing sufficient income to its shareholders.

– Cool! I had no idea Coca-Cola had been invented so long ago, more than 130 years already, – Stanislav said surprisingly. – Wish I could have that much success and own a company that huge!

– Success doesn’t come to you by itself. You are the one walking towards it, – Larry explained. – By the way, the road to success is not always smooth. But you should know, that first of all, you need money and other material possessions to gain more freedom and do more good deeds in benefit of your country and the world as well. Also, one should never forget that money could never replace solid friendship and true love.

– I suggest stopping here and “going beyond rhetoric”, or rather say, getting down to work, because only with the help of labor one’s dreams can possibly be achieved – Bobby said, interrupting his friend Larry.

Chapter Two

Where the mobiles tell us stories of labor and production

– Labor is human performance in creating the essentials of life, – Bobby explained. – Its most important criteria is called labor capacity. If you work at the candy factory and pack candies, the bigger capacity will belong to those who will pack more candies within the same time period. For example, one hour.

– And my favorite proverb goes like this: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”, – Larry joined in.