From brown bag lunches, fortunes are made.
That was one of the takeaways for Sekayi Rudolph at Saturday’s financial seminar for youths in Morristown.
“If you brown-bag, you can save $250 a month,” said Rudolph, a junior at Pope John XXIII Regional High School in Sparta.
He was among about 20 kids, ranging in age from 7 to 17, who chose to spend a radiantly sunny spring morning inside the Marion Sally Residence Center learning the basics of finance.
The workshop was organized by the nonprofit Our Youth Their Future, with volunteers from JPMorgan Chase and a currriculum devised by Princeton-based Junior Achievement of New Jersey.
Morristown Councilwoman Toshiba Foster, co-founder of Our Youth Their Future, said the goal was to help youngsters become financially savvy sooner rather than later, so they “can avoid making the mistakes we made, and are still paying for.”
Junior Achievement’s financial literacy and entrepreneurship programs will reach 50,000 pupils this year, with help from JP Morgan Chase, said Christy Tighe, a Junior Achievement education and training specialist who oversaw the Morristown event.
“This inspires kids to dream big and reach their full potential, to succeed in a global economy,” Tighe said.
The youths were split into three age groups, for finance-themed games and talks about topics such as credit card security.
Kamani Bryant, a fourth-grader, came away appreciating the benefits of savings accounts.
“If you leave money in your pocket, it’s easy to spend,” she said. In the bank, she said, the money keeps working. “If someone else really needs it, they give to them, and it’s like a loan.”
“And sometimes the bank will give some money back to you,” as interest, chimed in 7th-grader Vanna Gwyn.
“The hardest part about saving money is, people have temptations to buy things,” said Sekayi Rudolph, the high schooler. “People buy what they want, instead of what they need, and it backfires.”
His cousin, 7th-grader Nasir Rudolph, said he grasps the virtues of frugality.
“I see a lot of stuff I want but I can’t always buy it,” Nasir said. “It’s better to save money for something that’s better.”
