[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]During Session four, Jeremy Allison, the Senior Consumer Relationship Manager for PrimeTrust Financial Federal Credit Union taught us how to build and manage our credit.

Credit is “the ability of a consumer to obtain goods and services before payment, based on the trust that the payment will be made in the future”.

Allison made a point to note that if teens choose to obtain a credit card, they must make sure they have the means to pay it back. Be sure to read the fine print!

Teens raised their hands with aggressive curiosity, asking questions about good credit, good debt, bad debt, debt management and paying bills.

The most important thing is to manage your debt and credit by knowing who you owe and how much you owe them. Make sure you are aware of your credit report by visiting annualcreditreport.com. Here you can check your credit score and payment history.

Check out more pictures on our Facebook page.

By Session three, James Mitchell, Ball State’s director for employer relations, asked a question that many teens ponder before graduating high school.

“What college do you want to attend?”

Answers ranged from Indiana’s very own Ball State and IUPUI, to Ohio State and Oxford. By having a good GPA, community involvement, summer internships & carrying a job, these steps will help teens build a successful resume for college applications.

For the many high school students who are not sure of what field they want to enter, Mitchell suggests you visit, learnmoreindiana.org. Students will find a career assessment and the Hoosier Hot 50 Jobs webpage. They can also visit fastweb.com for access to available scholarships.

Check out more pictures on our Facebook page.

The next session focused on saving and investing basics.

“If I gave you 1 million dollars how would you spend it?”

After taking some time to think and write down their ideas, teens shared what they would spend it on. “Put $200,000 toward college, buy an escalade and give some to my mom.” One participant shared, “I’d buy 2 PS4’s, 1 Xbox One, and more video games.” Another said, “I’d buy a building for my business.”

Mrs. Lisa Letsinger, a Business Education Teacher of Muncie Central, helped the participants learn about the art of saving money.

Using a sample workbook, provided by MutualBank, they learned how to write checks and record transactions in the checkbook register.

Check out more pictures on our Facebook page. 

The Boys & Girls Club’s Money Matter$ Workshop kicked off early Saturday morning at the Muncie Innovation Connector. The workshop, hosted in partnership with Ball State University’s Center for Economic Education and Office for Community Engagement, is for teens in grades 6-12 focused on learning how to save, spend, and manage money.

Before starting the first session, participants were greeted by staff and enjoyed breakfast from Bob Evans. They also participated in an icebreaker to wake everyone up and meet each other.

The first session, facilitated by Sari Harris, Director of the Center for Economic Education at Ball State, helped participants gain the basics of budgeting and making good decisions. They learned how decisions are often guided by personal goals and factors of wealth and is tied to their own effort, natural ability and motivation. In a hands-on activity, “The Wealth Game”, they learned how to practically and effectively allocate money to a personal budget.

MutualBank is a proud sponsor of the workshop and a corporate partner with the Boys & Girls Club of Muncie.

MutualBank_flat_centered_CMYK

Follow BGC on Facebook and Twitter for more updates.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/3″][image_with_animation image_url=”3588″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” img_link_large=”yes”][image_with_animation image_url=”3586″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” img_link_large=”yes”][image_with_animation image_url=”3587″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” img_link_large=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]