WU? - What's That?

Text messaging and on-line chatting has became an important part of the daily life of teenagers nowadays. To speed the process, they have adopted various codes and aggravations. Here are some examples:


AFAIK: as far as I know
B4N: bye for now
BBL: be back later
BRB: be right back
BTW: by the way
CUL: see you later
G2G: got to go
HHOK: ha ha, only kidding
JK: just kidding
JW: just wondering
LOL: laugh out loud
LYMY: love you miss you
ROTFL: rolling on the floor
TTFN: ta ta for now
TTYL: talk to you later
WU?: what's up?
YR: yeah, right

Learning Financial Literacy

I still remember my first allowance my mother gave me for doing chores at home when I was just five years old. I saved them in a piggy bank for toys and books, and from this I learned about the value of the dollar and very quickly how to budget. Sadly, money management usually isn't something we're taught in school. If we're lucky, our parents have strong money skills and pass them on to us. If we're unlucky, we pick up our parents' bad habits and may spend a lifetime trying to correct them.

The parents can, however, be proactive with their children and one of the greatest teaching tools is the allowance. What exactly an allowance means? Is it an entitlement – since every kid gets it, or a salary that kids get paid for work done? It can be either of these things, but consider the lessons learned from either approach: what do kids learn when they're given money as an entitlement? Treating an allowance as a salary for work has its drawbacks as well. Kids should be contributing to chores around the house as part of belonging to a family. If children need money to help around the house, it may end up as the only motivating factor toward chores.


Parents should use the allowance as a teaching tool for saving, spending, and budgeting and as a discussion point with the kids regarding the uses of money. How big should the allowance be? If all the child's desires are met, there's no need to budget and no lessons are learned. Children should have to make choices and learn to save for what they want. There is no hard dollar value here, but if the kids are able to easily buy all the toys and treats they desire, then it might be useful to shrink the allowance.


How much control should parents have over their children’s spending? Children should be allowed some degree of freedom, but there also needs to be ground rules. Parents should encourage savings and charitable habits. For example, smaller children can be given different piggy banks for saving, for spending, and for charity, or even a savings account at the bank. Older kids can learn the lesson of compound interest with interest earning savings accounts. I still remember as a child being taken to the bank by my father after birthdays and Christmas to deposit my cash gifts. He showed me my account balance and the interest I have earned.


What about paying when kids go above and beyond the call of duty? Though basing an allowance solely upon work done has its drawbacks, "extra credit" for more difficult tasks can be a good idea. In this case, pay should be based on the difficulty of the task and the time it takes to complete. Parents should use allowances as a teaching tools and talk to the kids about their spending and savings habits, set some ground rules, and lead by example. Financial literacy and strong savings habits are the foundation of a successful financial future and one of the precious gifts that the parent can give to their kids.

Kerry Anderson – A Cinderella Story

Kerry Anderson, now 26-year-old, graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in government a few weeks ago. It’s an honor to graduate from one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Kerry’s background makes her even more special.
When Kerry was 12 years old, she and her young brother began to travel with their mom, Linda, a cross-country truck driver. They were home-schooled for many years while riding in the cab of a big rig crossing America. They learnt the basics of reading and writing not only from books, but also from the trips. They helped their mother plan travel routes and calculate how long it would take to reach a new destination - a practical education in geography and math.

By the time she was ready for college; Kerry took a break from the road and converted into conventional classroom studies at Valencia Community College in Central Florida. It was a different experience. She had to learn how to study in a new atmosphere. With her steely confidence and can-do character, she got very involved in extracurricular activities, student government, and community service projects. She earned a place on the dean's list and was also named 2007's distinguished graduate by Valencia's Alumni Association, giving her the honor to address more than 4,500 classmates at graduation.

After graduating from Valencia, Kerry wasn't sure where she was going to do next. Then she received an e-mail from someone claiming to be a Harvard University recruiter and wanted her to transfer with a full scholarship. At first, she and her mom thought the invitation might be a scam. After spending considerable time researching the unbelievable offer, they concluded it was genuine. Although Harvard turns away thousands of applicants every year and seldom takes transfer students – let along from an unknown community college, her story touched the recruiter who liked her experience. Now her experience and story become part of the university's.

After graduation, she is preparing to go to law school and eventually has a career in foreign policy and international relations. Her unique experience provides her with the perspective to deal with different people and things. As she said, "You need to understand how things started in order to learn how to fix things."

We wish her success in her future endeavor.