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I get a lot of questions from so called “experts” in the field about my absolute refusal to teach investment to youth. They claim that the only way to become rich or even financially self sufficient is through investing. Some of them even name famous people who became wealthy through investment.

Let me set the record straight here. I’m not against investing. I’m also not against expensive cars, fancy clothes, week-long trips to Las Vegas with the sole intent of gambling, or any number of other things that some wealthy people partake in. Finance For Youth isn’t about teaching young people how to potentially become financially literate. Finance For Youth is about guiding young people to the point where they ARE financially literate, maybe even literate enough to make smart choices about investing. Second, all of those famous people are famous because they are the exception, not the rule.

I also want to clear the record on many lies that are told about investing. Some people say that the ONLY way to become rich is through investing. Most of these people get rich on commission checks for convincing people to invest through them. These people aren’t necessarily bad, but they definitely have ulterior motives. Look, I’m not against someone trying to make a living, but I am against people trying to take advantage of young people’s ignorance to make that living. This is the same reason I’m against Banks, Credit Unions, Credit Card companies, Investment houses, Mortgage companies, or any other company that has a vested interest in convincing you to patronize their services “teaching” financial classes in school. To me, this amounts to nothing more than a directed sales pitch to a captive audience.

Does that mean they don’t have something good to say? Probably not, but it does mean that I take what they say with a huge grain of salt.

So, to all the investment pushers, investment clubs, banks, credit unions, “consumer credit advocates”, or anybody else out there who is hawking their particular brand of financial literacy, I get it– different strokes for different folks. I’m not standing in your way to making a living.

Of course, that changes the second I see you preying on those without proper training to make informed decisions. Once I see that, I will do everything in my power to point you out as the frauds you are.

To the rest of you who want to learn to make intelligent decisions, please feel free to continue to read, subscribe, and most of all, to ask questions. Tell your friends the same.

***UPDATE***
As of February of this year, my opinion, and the grade for Bank of America has dramatically changed. Read THIS POST for more information.

As an aside, BofA is not the only bad bank here, there are others who subscribe to this backwards thinking. They were just the most slimey about it.

Let me start out by saying I really, really wanted to hate Bank of America.  I have worked in finance (banking) for a very long time, and everybody knows they just suck!  I knew I was going to be giving BofA a bad grade when it came to youth accounts.  Here’s what I came up with.

When rating financial institutions for their benefit for youth, I looked specifically at the products they offer on their websites dedicated to students and youth.  I looked at seven criteria, and compared with other institutions.  Since I don’t bank with them, I did not rate them on customer service or satisfaction, two areas that are very important to me.

Comments:  I like especially that the account is free while you are a student.  This is of paramount importance to my readers.  Offering to waive monthly fees for Direct Deposit or Online Bill Pay, as well as offering a free online Bill Pay program really helped.  They seem to offer programs with features that make sense for today’s youth.  As much as I wanted to hate them, they Came out pretty good here.

Great job, Bof A!

Coming up, Wells Fargo.  Did they do as well?

Just wanted to let you know about another project in the line of Finance For Youth. If you go to my website

www.finance4youth.com

you will see my seal on the front page. Click on it, and you can see the new blog about consumer issues for youth, Finance For Youth: Keeping an eye out for you, also found at

www.info.finance4youth.com.

That’s where I’ll be putting links to stories and other information about things you will be spending money on. The next post will be talking about software. Subscribe and add it to your favorites today!

If there is anything you want to hear about over there, email me

wil@finance4youth.com

As promised, I haven’t forgotten you.  I’m still working on Finance For Youth: The Book, doing a whole lot of writing for school, and trying to have some semblance of a life outside.  But I had to warn people about what your parents are going to be doing.

 I have a subscription to a little magazine called Consumer Reports.  Generally, I trust what they say as unbiased reviews of how things work.  I don’t expect them to tell me what to do, but I appreciate that they run products through several tests and let me know their opinion of the best one.

I couldn’t believe what I saw in their latest issue, which I just got this week.

In the February 2007 issue, on page 61, the following excerpt under the title “Consumers’ to-do list for the new Congress”:

“The November elections were like a starter’s pistol for Consumers Union and other groups that work on consumer issues.  Not that CU had slowed its pace, but the power shift in Congress may enable some hurdles to be cleared that have, until now, been frustratingly high.

Here are some of the improvements [italics added by me] for consumers that CU seeks from the new Congress and from the Administration.”

I understand that Consumers Union is a supposed advocacy group, and that paragraph is only there because of the italicized word.  The next excerpt is the truly galling part, and if you are of voting age, you need to contact whoever your congressperson is and beg them to not be persuaded to take such a dunder-headed suggestion seriously:

“Finance

Curb unfair credit-card and banking practices such as LONG CHECK HOLDS, and limit EXCESSIVE FEES FOR ITEMS INCLUDING LATE PAYMENTS AND BOUNCED CHECKS.[Bold and italics added by me]“

This is one of the stupidest things adults have ever done when it comes to finance.  These morons over at CU (and yes, I’m piling on the insults extra high– these people need someone to tell them how stupid they are and I seem to have been elected) are trying to eliminate any accountability they have for not learning the basic tenets of personal finance (such as Finance For Youth teaches).  It is their hopes that instead of actually teaching people to budget for the occasional hold that may be placed FOR THE CUSTOMER’S (YOUR) PROTECTION on checks deposited in any number of ways, and instead of teaching people to PAY THEIR BILLS ON TIME AND NOT BOUNCE CHECKS, they can just ask Congress to stop letting the big, mean, banks and credit unions operate a business.

Some of you may be thinking that less fees is good, and I agree.  But if you never bounce checks, and many people never do, and you always pay your bills on time, you will still be paying for those people who choose not to take some personal responsibility.

Think about it.  Let’s say Bank A charges $50.00 (ridiculously high) for a bounced check.  Congress passes a law that says they can only charge $20.00.  The bank stands to lose $30.00 on every bounced check (minus what they have to pay for special handling), or a metric butt-load of money each year.  No business can survive operating at a loss, and they aren’t going to even try.  Now banks will DECREASE the yield on SAVINGS ACCOUNTS and INCREASE OR CREATE OTHER FEES.  You will now be paying even more than you already did, because you weren’t the person who bounced checks.  YOU LOSE!!

Frankly, I’m ashamed on behalf of the entire Consumers Union, adults, children, people of average intelligence, people of slightly below-average intelligence, and anybody else that this idea has even floated across someone’s desk and not hung up like all the other office jokes that float around.

File this under “I”, for “I can’t believe someone would be so stupid”, or “I hope that Congress has bigger issues on their plate (ending a war, passing meaningful laws, protecting the rule of law, not taking bribes, wearing really nice suits, just to give a few suggestions) than frivolous legislation like this”, or simply for “Idiots”, because that is what the good people at CU have proved themselves to be.

Next, Finance For Youth grades BofA and Wells Fargo in services for young people.