NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks to Josh Harris About Financial Literacy Efforts At Clemson
ACC rivalries aside (I’m a UVA grad), I enjoyed my conversation with Josh Harris, personal finance lecturer at Clemson University. In our conversation, you will learn how Josh’s interests evolved from studying religion, his undergraduate major, to becoming a leading advocate for financial literacy at Clemson. His path provides another useful reminder that careers often don’t follow a straight line. Josh describes the process of developing and delivering a new online personal finance course. He discusses his strategies to motivate, monitor and assess the progress of his students. He also delves into the money mindset of a college student including their top concerns and blind spots. Enjoy!
- 0:00~0:51 – Introduction
- 0:51~1:30 – Josh’s day job
- 1:30~3:00 – Educational background
- 3:00~3:54 – What he learned from his father’s job
- 3:54~5:02 – How Josh’s personal finance class started
- 5:02~8:34 – Course creation process
- 8:34~10:30 – Details on his eight week course
- 10:30~11:41 – Favorite resources that Josh includes in his course
- 11:41~13:11 – What is a “custom textbook?”
- 13:11~14:13 – Legal documents
- 14:13~16:41 – Accessing his course via the online portal
- 16:41~18:33 – Average student debt at Clemson
- 18:33~22:14 – College student’s level of experience with money
- 22:14~24:53 – Incorporating financial goals into his course
- 24:53~25:20 – A word from our sponsor, Next Gen Personal Finance
- 25:20~27:20 – Types of students in the class
- 27:20~29:10 – How he supports his students in his online course
- 29:10~31:00 – Motivating students in an online environment
- 31:00~34:09 – Assessing students
- 34:09~35:07 – Personal finance research that interests Josh
- 35:07~35:42 – Right age for a student to get a credit card
- 35:42~36:07 – Index funds or individual stocks
- 36:07~37:07 – Advice for 20 year old self
- 37:07~38:21 – Best financial habit
- 38:21~38:46 – Billboard in front of every college
- 38:46~40:16 – Recomendad book
- 40:16~41:42 – Best $10 ever spent
- 41:42~43:00 – Changes in mind for the course
- 43:00~44:05 – Conclusion
- Knowledge Matters: simulation
- Jump$tart
- Charles Duhig’s bestselling book Power of Habit
- “I know I want to do research on financial literacy and financial education because i think it could be one of those silver bullets for our society to fix a lot of things and I am excited to contribute to that”
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.
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