Two sisters turned entrepreneurs are working to increase financial literacy among their peers.
Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard sat down with Zion and Sariel Phillips to talk about the importance of understanding money.
Zion, age 12, and Sariel, age 13, began their journey five years ago when they signed up for a children’s business fair.
That led to the creation of “I Got Bank,” a platform that provides a workbook, website and workshops focused on budgeting.
The sisters teach other children about credit scores and the risks of high-interest debt.
Zion told Channel 2 that their mission is to help children avoid financial pitfalls.
“We want to teach kids, you have to be the bank and not the borrower because you don’t want to be in all this debt using too much credit cards and not paying them off,” she said.
The workshops often attract parents who say that they also benefit from the lessons. According to the sisters, many adults at expos express interest in educational materials for their own use.
“Parents keep telling us this every expo we go to,” Zion said. “They’re like, oh, I want to buy this for my kid, but I also want to buy this for myself. It really shows we’re making a really big difference.”
The sisters credit their mother for providing the financial knowledge and support needed to start the business. They emphasized that early education is a way to break cycles of poor money management.
“Especially if you don’t want them to make the same mistakes that you did when you were younger, because it all starts with the youth,” Sariel said.
The sisters encourage other children to explore entrepreneurship by focusing on topics that interest them. Zion suggested that persistence is necessary for any child looking to start a business.
“Don’t stop learning. Don’t stop believing, and you can do it. Find something you’re passionate about,” Zion said.
And when it comes to money and your kids, Clark says, get them involved.
“I love what these kids are doing, and there’s so many people right now trying different ways to teach about money, to people of all different ages. But one key role here for you is a parent to talk to your kid about money regularly and have good money habits yourself because they’re watching how you and I handle our money,” Clark said.
According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, 30 states across the U.S. now require students to complete financial education courses to graduate from high school. That is a sharp increase from 2020, when only eight states had similar requirements.
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