It’s Tuesday, so time for another NGPF Podcast.

Thanks to Ren Makino and Sid Sharma for participating in the recent NGPF podcast show. Ren and Sid have interned at NGPF for over a year and have done great work supporting our mission. They are currently students at Palo Alto High School, where financial literacy is not taught as a standalone course but is incorporated into some economics courses in a limited fashion.  I wanted to get their take on the biggest money issues they encounter as well as what their peers are dealing with in this affluent suburban community.

As you listen, you will hear some issues that may seem universal for teens while others are more typical of communities like Palo Alto. Given that our curriculum meets the needs of a diverse student population, I look forward to including additional student voices in future podcasts (so please let me know if you have students who you think might be good to interview!).

Listen to this podcast to hear Ren and Sid provide answers to the following questions:

• How are their money attitudes similar/different from their parents?
• How comfortable are they with new payment methods available from their smartphones?
• What personal finance topics are most engaging among their peer group?
• What are their savings strategies?
• What lessons have they learned from their NGPF experience?

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.