Teachers
Ronald Read blah, blah, blah
Blah, blah, blah, blah
Discussion:
“What did Ronald Read do that allowed him to have so much money, despite never earning very much?”
Get the students to focus on specific actions - such as investing, saving, and avoiding luxuries.
This is important as when it comes to money, it’s more important about what actions you take rather than how much money you have or make. Many people who have lots of money don’t manage it well and therefore aren’t financially healthy.
If the students get into a discussion about ‘Was he happy not spending?’ then you can keep it going but not that this will be covered in a future module.
“Why don’t most people do what Ronald did?”
This question is opening the students to consider why most people don’t:
Live below their means (marketing, peer/social pressure)
Learn to invest (see it as scary or complex)
Other areas to highlight, if not raised by the students:
People feel others will look after them: family, employer, the government
A belief that they will earn more in future so don’t need to take action now
In this first module, we will focus on the impressions we have about people and their financial health. This is very important as many people mismanage their money as they compare themselves to others without the full picture.
Below you will find all the resources you need for this module, including:
Slides
Lesson plan
Discussion pointers
Money Jargon - further details
Bonus content
Slides for the class
Click to open slides
Activity:
For this module - the activity is contained within the slides provided.
The focus of the activity is to help the students understand that comparing their financial position relative to others is a waste of time as we don't have all the information.
Money Jargon Buster:

This picture is to help the students understand that there are many people who spend like they have a lot of money ("The Rich") but as they spend so much they might actually have a lot of money. The left rabit.
In the US, 36% of people earning over US$100,000 per year live paycheck to paycheck.
Other people might not look like they have much but are looking after their money and focusing on growing what they do have and not fousing too much on other people ("The Wealthy"). The right rabit.
If given the option, once people know the difference between Rich and Wealthy, they will choose to be Wealthy rather than Rich. This could be a question to ask the class.
The important point from this picture is that in the 'real-world' they get to see 'Rich' everywhere they go. They will see their friends, family and people walking around Singapore who appear Rich. They will see it more when they go onto social media. However, they won't see Wealthy. It is hidden. The most wealthy person might not look 'Rich' at all.