Do you remember how old you were when you first learned the value of money? Did anyone ever take the time to sit down and explain to you what money means and how to make it work for you? The O’Jays put out a song called, “For the Love of Money” that talks a lot about what people will do for money, but it does not talk about the importance of respecting and investing money. How we view money plays a role on how we treat it and ultimately how it will treat us.
The younger we learn about what money really is (an exchange of currency) the better prepared we will be when we get older. It is important that we learn how to save it, exchange it, spend it, and invest it for the future. There are many people that do not understand how to have a positive relationship with money. Instead of them controlling it they let money control them. Oftentimes people become enslaved to debt because they do not learn at an early age how to manage it.
On Saturday, April 17 in honor of National Financial Literacy Month, Comerica Bank partnered with Forgiving For Living and brought a free “Smart Money Moves for Young People” workshop. Youth between the ages of 12 -17 were given tools to help them navigate the rough terrain of understanding money. Michael A. Fletcher, vice president, Banking Center manager and Sara E. Mann, senior vice president, group manager, Private Banking Wealth Management provided information that young people could institute now to make positive choices and carry them throughout their lifetime.
On, Tuesday, April 27 Cynthia Jordan, senior vice president, group manager, Los Angeles Middle Market Lending, Elise Moore, senior vice president, executive director of Commercial Underwriting, and Jacqueline Vega, senior vice president, director Commercial Underwriting from Comerica will present, “Making Money Moves and How to Negotiate the Right Salary for young women between 16-26 years old. This workshop will also be provided free with the hopes of providing information to help young women make good choices and the right moves that will carry them throughout life.
Forgiving For Living thanks Irvin Ashford, Jr., Larry Reed, and David C. Betancourt for Comerica Bank’s continued support of sowing into the community and for planting positive seeds into the lives of the young people we serve. Many of us take a lifetime to learn how to really respect and value what money really means. I know people who struggle when it is time for them to retire because they made poor choices when they were younger. Through our partnership with Comerica Bank, Forgiving For Living wants to help young people, women, entrepreneurs, and everyone to think about the financial choices they make now even if it means delayed gratification, but helps guarantee a more prosperous future.
David C. Betancourt said, Comerica Bank is committed to financial education year-around through our Comerica $ense Programs serving under resourced communities. We are proud to partner with Forgiving For Living Inc. during National Financial Literacy Month to host two financial education workshops for youth to build a strong financial foundation, and women to continue promoting gender equality.
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Visit www.WendyGladney.com and www.forgivingforliving.org to learn more. Wendy is a life strategist, coach, consultant, author, and speaker. You can hear her every Wednesday on Instagram Live at 12 noon PST.
