The Art of Allowance Project by Snigglezoo

What’s better than a great mystery? One that helps kids learn about money! This Credit Union Youth Month, young detectives can help Joe the Monkey solve a case while learning how to save, share, and spend wisely. Our friends at The Art of Allowance Project by Snigglezoo can engage your super sleuths with: ???A set of printable case notes ??A newsletter full of clues and suspects ??A suite of corresponding social media collateral ???A mystery-themed event perfect for community outreach Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ep9UgeJR #FoundationPartner #CUYouthMonth

All of our personal money mistakes — and we all have them — become part of our arsenal for teaching our kids money smarts. We can turn these mistakes into learning opportunities for our kids. Of course, real learning happens when our kids experience money mistakes and successes for themselves. Thanks to Laura D. Adams, MBA, for having me The Money Girl podcast to talk about the importance of teaching our kids about money from a young age.

??Marketing Manatee Medal??: Great Lakes Credit Union Cue the confetti for Northern Illinois-based Great Lakes Credit Union! Thanks to the efforts of?Senior Manager, Brand Activation Jessica Maimone Obiala and Community Outreach Specialist Makenzie N Marsell, this institution continues to grow its youth community activation series, which features a partnership with an after-care program at a local elementary school. During 45-minute weekly sessions, members of the Great Lakes “Great Wave” volunteer team spread the money-smart message to Kindergarten through 3rd Grade students with the help of The Art of Allowance Project's suite of educational resources. These miniature money mavens determined how they could earn some extra bucks, learned about setting and saving for goals, and even colored their own “Decision Dollars” when discussing opportunity costs. The 8-week program culminated in a field trip to a nearby Great Lakes branch, where The Money Mammals’ own Piggs the Bank served as host. Several participating students and their family members even opened accounts that day! Regarding the value of youth initiatives like this one, Makenzie attests: “Our Money Mammals Outreach has had huge impacts on our students and their families. Parents have made comments about their children being able to understand wants and needs when they are out grocery shopping and saving their allowances for bigger things rather than spending it right away. Partners have requested us to do part 2’s, and the students wanted to continue with more sessions after the 8-week series was over. All of our partners who have had a session have immediately asked for us to continue or offer again to impact more students.” “Wave” to go, Great Lakes! ?? -Erin Prim, Marketing Manatee & Client Services Coordi-gator

We are LOVING our Money Mammals program at Maine Family FCU!? Since launching, we’ve seen so many kids excited to save—coming in to make deposits, collect their rewards, and proudly show off their punch cards.?It’s been incredible to watch them build smart money habits in such a fun way! If you’re looking to get your young members engaged in financial education, I can’t recommend Money Mammals enough. Check out the video to see the impact it’s making, and get in touch with John Lanza, CCUFC to learn how The Money Mammals can level up your youth savings accounts!

If you’re wondering whether Money Mammals is the real deal, I can confidently say they absolutely are. In this video, I share how we revamped our youth savings program with their help—and the impact has been huge. More youth accounts being opened, more families getting involved, and even being named “Best Family Bank” (or as we like to say UNbank) of 2024 from Des Moines Parent. This isn’t a paid endorsement—just a genuinely happy partner who has seen the results firsthand. If you're thinking about leveling up your youth savings program, I highly recommend getting in touch with John Lanza, CCUFC, creator of The Money Mammals! #creditunion #marketing #moneymammals #iowa

I recently joined Laura D. Adams, MBA on the Money Girl podcast to share two #moneysmart bits of advice my grandfather shared with me the day I graduated college. He was a wise man. You can listen to our full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gYRraASA

Essential advice for our adult kids... A 401(k) is NOT an investment! Neither is an IRA. The money in these "containers" must be invested in mutual funds, stocks or bonds. While these observations will sound obvious to most readers of this newsletter,?a Vanguard study?recounted two-thirds of employees had no idea they were entirely in a money-market fund. Whoa! As my guest Bobbi Rebell Kaufman, CFP? pointed out in?the short snippet?below from our discussion, we need to continue the money conversation with our adult kids so they don't make this same mistake. Because money mistakes aren't just for kids. My wife discovered that a friend (In her mid-fifties!) let the 529 college savings account she set up sit in cash. What a double whammy! By not investing this money in a total stock market index fund, the family missed out on the big gains of the past decade and a half. Meanwhile, interest rates on cash accounts during the same time were awful. Ouch! https://lnkd.in/gnK_BV8x Sign up for more weekly money-smart tidbits like this from my weekly newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gRir6dKq

Could your credit union's youth programs use more excitement? Check out our friends at The Art of Allowance Project by Snigglezoo. #FoundationPartner #FinancialWellness #KidsAndMoney #MoneySmart

Facilitating our Money Mammals Saving Money is Fun Club is one of my favorite parts of the week. We teach kiddos about Saving, Sharing and Spending Smart ?? Looking forward to all of our Money Mammals partnerships this Spring!

Every child learns by taking small steps, and providing an allowance is a great way to start teaching them money management. Curious about when and how to begin? Our partners at The Art of Allowance Project by Snigglezoo offer some practical advice: https://okt.to/lnVAjy Ready to open an account for your child? Explore our youth programs: https://okt.to/NIa1WH