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1
Wealth
5
Investing
2
Earning
6
Risk
3
Spending
7
Patience
4
Budgeting
8
Debt
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Teachers
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 note 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
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 not have a lot of money. The left rabbit.
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 rabbit.
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.
Bonus Content:
If you cover the content above with time to spare, or want to give the students something to do after the lesson, please see the ‘Bonus Content’ section below for another discussion topic and activity.
Video: Interview with Andrew Hallam. He was previously a teacher at the Singapore American School. He followed the 3 Rules of Wealth and became a millionaire. Video in the slide deck.
Discussion:
"The most valuable personal finance asset is not needing to impress anyone"
Share the quote from Morgan Housel (author of the book The Psychology of Money) with the students:
Ask the students to discuss "Do you believe this statement is true and why?"
Activity: The story of Ronald Read is an inspiring 'Rags to Riches' story. There are many opposite stories, 'Riches to Rags'. Use the internet to find some of these stories and discover what was the reason for their financial downfall.
Popular examples include:
The Vanderbilt Family (Stream trains in the late 1800's)
MC Hammer (pop artist from the 90's)
Johnny Depp (Actor)
Lindsay Lohan (Actor)
Mike Tyson (Boxer)
Lesson Plan:
Introduction (5 mins): Start by defining what it means to be ‘Financially Healthy’. You should ask the students what they believe it means. The key is that it isn’t a specific amount of money. It means having a lifestyle that means you don’t worry about money, i.e., not living paycheck to paycheck. [This can be a class or group activity]
Activity - Part 1 (10 mins): Show the slides with the different people. They have to decide in groups or pairs whether they believe the people are financially healthy or not based on the information provided. Get them to write down their answers as you’ll come back to these people later with more information on them. [What you can expect is that the students will believe that people with low incomes will be less financially healthy than those on higher incomes]
Video (5 mins): Play the video discussing the life of Ronald Read. He is the secret millionaire janitor. Despite never earning much money, he learned to look after his money and become extremely wealthy.
Discussion (10 mins): In groups or as a class, discuss ‘What actions did Ronald Read take?’ and ‘Why doesn’t everyone take the same actions?’. I’ve provided some points in the ‘Discussion’ section below.
3 Rules of Wealth (5 mins): This is an introduction to the rules that Ronald Read followed. Over the course of the program, we’ll be going into each of these rules in more detail. Both in terms of what these rules are and why most people don’t follow them.
Activity Part 2 (7 mins): Show the slides with the people and the additional information. With this extra information, they will see that some of their initial assumptions might have been incorrect. This is important as the additional information is not public and that applies to everyone we see and compare ourselves to.
Key message (5 mins): As we don’t have full information about someone, we should be cautious about comparing ourselves to others. When it comes to money, the focus should be on trying to ensure you adopt a lifestyle where you are financially healthy.
Bonus content: If you cover the content above with time to spare, or want to give the students something to do after the lesson, please see the ‘Bonus Content’ section below for another video, discussion topic and activity.
Worksheet Download
Download the worksheet below. This contains the activities and discussion topics. It also includes a sheet to make notes regarding your Money Plan.
Introduction
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
Worksheet Download
The worksheet below contains the activities and discussion topics for this module.
Please ask the students to log-in using the student log-in details below (click button to display)
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Introduction
Welcome to the Money Management Program
This program consists of 9 lessons. The initial 8 lessons cover various modules, and the final session is reserved for students to present their 'Money Plan' (explained below).
Each module introduces a distinct money-related topic based on the 3 Rules of Wealth:
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Spend less than you earn.
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Invest what you save.
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Be patient.
For every module, we've provided:
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Lesson plans
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Slides (including some with videos)
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Worksheets for students
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Teacher notes to assist in leading discussions
Depending on interest, new modules will be developed which will delve deeper into entrepreneurship and investing.
Should you have any questions about the program or specific money-related topics, please reach out to will@bluetreesavings.com.
Money Plan
For the final lesson (lesson 9), students should create and present their 'Money Plan'. This Money Plan should set out how they plan to manage their money to become 'Financially Healthy' over time.
The Money Plan is a very important step for the students. Many people learn the basic principles of managing money but don't implement them as they don't have a clear plan.
Their Money Plan will set out:
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How they will earn money
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How they will ensure they save money
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How they will grow their money
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How they will avoid falling into common money traps (debt, social pressure to spend, gambling)
A slide to explain this part of the program to the students is included in the slides for Module 1.
DEMO
Only modules 1 and 2 are included in the Demo.
Please sign up for the program to gain access to all 8 modules.
Contact Will Rainey (will@bluetreesavings.com) for more information on how to access the full program (please ensure you have first joined the waiting list here)