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600 Kindergartners Were Given Bank Accounts. Here’s What They Learned.
How San Francisco and other cities are trying to boost financial education and college savings
Tierra Ferrand started saving for college when she was in kindergarten.
She and 600 other low-income public-school students in San Francisco were each given a bank account with $50 in 2011 as part of a program that expanded the curriculum from reading and writing to interest rates. Now 17 years old, she has more than $1,500 banked and is off to Grambling State University in Louisiana this fall. That balance may be small, but Ferrand and her mother, Aisha Brown, 44, said the account changed their approach to money and saving.
San Francisco’s Kindergarten to College Program, which now gives $50 in savings to every student, has 52,000 active accounts with a total balance of $15 million—$10 million of which came from deposits made by the students and their families. The program aims to be both financial education and a small start to college savings, and has been replicated in 39 states across the country.
This is a fantastic idea. Learning finances while young is so important. My Kindergarten gave us the opportunity to open a savings account at a local bank. Every Thursday the kid's money would be collected and deposited into their account and on Friday we would spend time looking over the passbook discussing the account, interest etc..
I know for myself it introduced me to finance and savings and made me want to grow that number. Of course we weren't given money to start it, but still a fantastic program.
On the home front, my father told us whatever amount of our allowance we deposited, he would match and add to our deposit. As a result, I really didn't spend foolishly because I wanted the bigger deposit. My brother, not so much.
I had Home Ec. 1/3 cooking, 1/3 sewing and 1/3 budgeting.
As far as bank accounts..back in the day they had what was called a Christmas Club account (short term savings).
My mother took us to the bank each year and we all got our own accounts with a book of our deposits..$1.00 initially. And then each week she would take us to make deposits ...like $.25 or so.
Once I got my first job at 17...I was familiar with banks and bank accounts and savings.
I didn't let my son start working until he was about to enter senior year in HS.
And then I took him to the bank to open an account and I seeded it with $100 as incentive to save.
They are doing in school what parents used to do...at least when I was growing up (boomer here and other kids had Christmas club accounts too).
I had Home Ec. 1/3 cooking, 1/3 sewing and 1/3 budgeting.
As far as bank accounts..back in the day they had what was called a Christmas Club account (short term savings).
My mother took us to the bank each year and we all got our own accounts with a book of our deposits..$1.00 initially. And then each week she would take us to make deposits ...like $.25 or so.
Once I got my first job at 17...I was familiar with banks and bank accounts and savings.
I didn't let my son start working until he was about to enter senior year in HS.
And then I took him to the bank to open an account and I seeded it with $100 as incentive to save.
They are doing in school what parents used to do...at least when I was growing up (boomer here and other kids had Christmas club accounts too).
I also took Home Ec in school and had cooking/sewing/budgeting included in the class. We did meal planning and were taken on a field trip to the grocery store to buy the items we needed, being sure to stay within our allotted budget for the meal that we had planned to make - it really made you think.
I also had one of those passbook savings accounts. Every time I made money babysitting or got money for Christmas from a grandparent, my parents would take me to deposit that money in my account. They would stamp the amount right there on my deposit book.
It was a great way to see how little amounts really add up over time. By the time I went to college I had a nice little nest egg saved and I also had a very good understanding of what things cost and what you needed to earn to afford certain things. Some things I plain could not afford and I didn't get them which is...life.
I've passed those lessons onto my own kids.
Last edited by springfieldva; 08-12-2023 at 01:39 PM..
We had home economics in junior high, never heard of it in kindergarten.
I'm guessing that the parents were being educated as much as their children were.
I don't know that being given $50 at the age of 5 and then managing to save only $1450 over the course of the next 12 years is what I would deem a huge success story. That amounts to saving about $120/year or approx $10/month for 12 years.
Certainly, it's better to wind up with $1500 in the bank, as opposed to, nothing.
This is a fantastic idea. Learning finances while young is so important. My Kindergarten gave us the opportunity to open a savings account at a local bank. Every Thursday the kid's money would be collected and deposited into their account and on Friday we would spend time looking over the passbook discussing the account, interest etc..
I know for myself it introduced me to finance and savings and made me want to grow that number. Of course we weren't given money to start it, but still a fantastic program.
On the home front, my father told us whatever amount of our allowance we deposited, he would match and add to our deposit. As a result, I really didn't spend foolishly because I wanted the bigger deposit. My brother, not so much.
On New Year's Day, Japanese people have a custom known as otoshidama where adult relatives give money to children. Often parents use some of the money to set up a bank account for the child so they can learn the importance of saving.
I grew up in the 60's in a family without much money. So, I learned about saving at an early age. The thirty cents I got on Saturday morning as a child had to last a week. Buy a hot dog and soda and the money was usually gone.
I was in middle school 69-71, 7th-8th grades. (The year after me it became 6th-8th).
Home Ec was sewing. Guys went to wood shop. There was zero financial education, and that continued into high school. I am not current on what is being taught now; just hope at least some emphasis is being placed on money management along the way.
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