Learn how to build wealth during Money Smart Week 2018
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EmailNumerous free programs and resources are available to help you secure your financial future.
Are you looking for help in managing student debt? Are you a parent seeking ideas to instill good financial habits in your children? Are you a teacher looking for creative ways to teach money management? Are you a young person wanting to start off on a great path to financial success? Are you a retiree wanting guidance on maximizing your social security? Come learn about these topics and much more by participating in Money Smart Week, April 21-28, 2018, where free personal financial programs are offered throughout Michigan and the nation for adults and teens.
Money Smart Week was created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2002 as a public awareness campaign to provide consumers with educational opportunities to increase their financial literacy. The program has grown dramatically over the years with the addition of national partners such as the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, American Library Association, Financial Planners Association, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and NAPFA Consumer Education Foundation. In 2017, 2,470 partner organizations across the nation including schools, universities, financial institutions, non-profit organizations and businesses engaged 108,000 consumers in 3,800 events, providing tools and strategies to better manage their personal finances.
You can find a class or webinar in your community by searching the online Money Smart Week Events database. If your schedule doesn’t allow you to attend a program in person, there are numerous resources online covering topics such as retirement planning, estate planning, identity theft, money management, guides to credit cards, shopping for a bank account and money matters for teens and families.
The Michigan Money Smart Week planning team offers many creative options to learn about money including:
- Run for the Money 5K event on April 21.
- Money Smart Kid Reads programs available at local libraries.
- Money Smart Fempreneur Summit on April 26.
- Funding the Future Rock concerts at various high school assemblies across Michigan.
- Personal Finance Challenge for high school state teams statewide.
- Money Smart Kids Magic show on April 22.
- New this year: play Money Smart Cache!, an online contest specifically targeted toward high school students.
As a Money Smart Week partner, Michigan State University Extension offers unique programs throughout the state and year-round for youth and adults. Below are just a few of the many programs provided for free in April:
- Mad City Money: Teens can get a taste of the adult world with “Mad City Money,” a hands-on simulation complete with jobs, income, family and debt. Register now for Mad City Money programs being offered in Warren, Chesterfield Township and River Rouge.
- Cruising the 4-H Money Curriculum: A professional development opportunity designed to assist youth development program staff, parents, adult volunteers and educators in learning about and engaging in financial literacy curriculum that can be used with youth from 5-19.
- How Much Home Can you Afford?: This one-hour online class will teach you to calculate how much home you can afford to purchase and maintain based on your current income.
- Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate? - Passing on Personal Possessions: This one-hour webinar will address six key decision-making factors for non-titled property transfer and provide strategies to help you jumpstart conversations about this issue.
Michigan State University Extension and Michigan 4-H Youth Development help to prepare young people for successful futures. As a result of career exploration and workforce preparation activities, thousands of Michigan youth are better equipped to make important decisions about their professional future, ready to contribute to the workforce and able to take fiscal responsibility in their personal lives.
