CREW Review- WealthQuest for Teens

WealthQuest for Teens is an online program to teach kids ages 14-19 about money and all that goes with it.  Developer and teacher, Jill Suskind, uses her years of research and knowledge to teach kids to be financially fit- 

 

"A financially fit person...actually has great habits that produce a clear and predictable set of results- money in the bank for later, money going toward helping others and the planet, and money being spent on what matters to you."   

- quote from Jill.

 

When you download WealthQuest you will get access to the online program, the printable Basic Seminar QuickStart Guide (eBook) and the Parent's Guide.

 

 

Jill broke this 6 week program down for us into these parts-

 

Week 1- Online video and Workbook Basic Seminar- Here your child will complete the 7 video modules and the online workbook.  These modules cover topics from your money habits and attitudes to money management and require typing in some personal answers.

 

 

 

Weeks 2 & 3- eBook (Basic Seminar Quick Start Guide)- This printable workbook reinforces what your child has learned and in small assignments challenges them to think about how they feel, make goals and think about how they want to use their money to achieve their goals. 

 

Week 4- MoneyTrail Lesson- Using the recommended, and free, MoneyTrail.net kids learn how to manage their money in accounts they set up.  Jill recommends 6 categories, or silos, in which to divide your money.

 

Week 5- Choose a book to read about money- Here Jill encourages the student to pick a book of interest about money and read it.  She later challenges you to keep this habit up at least once a year.

 

Week 6- Master what you have learned!  This week is dedicated to finishing the reading of your chosen book and any assignments you may not have completed, as well as making a charitable donation that you identified as an interest in earlier in the program.

 

How we used this program- My 14 year old went through this program, though we intend for our 18 year old to go through it as well on a college break.  While we are open about money in our home,  we have not had any formal training in that area for the children so I was excited to give this program a try.  My daughter easily downloaded the needed materials on her laptop and was on her own from there.  Every few days we discussed what she had learned and discussed her thoughts and feelings as well as added our own ideas.  The QuickStart guide mentioned weeks 2 and 3 have 30 days of assignments so it did run a little longer than suggested.  Because this is such a comprehensive course, we plan on using it as part of our Home Economics credit for high school.  While we followed Jill's recommended 6 weeks for our review, you could easily do this program in much less time, especially if you doubled up the eBook assignments.  The videos are fairly short though it can take a little more time if your child is spending time thinking about and answering the questions.

 

What We Thought- I very much agree with Jill that we as parents need to do more than just assume our children will learn about money with no guidance from us.  I also think she provides a great starting point for learning that also opens the path for communication between parents and children.  Like anything, I do think you need to follow closely to interject any personal family beliefs that she may not mention.  For example, one of the "silos" (categories of places to keep your money), is titled Heal the World.  While we think charitable giving is a wonderful goal, we did emphasize that for now and for our family, that was to be considered tithing.  One of the things I loved about this program was that Jill encourages you to make it fit for your family and that it will look different in every situation.  One thing that nagged on me was the word WEALTH in her title.  BUT, let me quote Jill on something-

 

"Wealth...means 'the amount of money you need to have the life you want and to make a difference in the ways that matter to you.'  For each person 'rich' is a different amount....It's up to you to decide what 'rich' means to you."

 

I appreciate her making this more clear and it was something we spent a lot of time talking about.  As Jill states "the intention of this program is to empower teenagers with habits and attitudes about money that lead to wealth"  However that may look to your family!  This is NOT intended in any way to be a get rich program.

 

Straight from the 14 year old- "My favorite part about this program is that it's so teen focused. The subjects in the videos were talked about by teens. The workbook was to the point so it didn't take too terribly long. I really enjoyed the program and teaching style. Like Mom already said, the only thing that bothered me was the use of the word wealth. Probably because when you hear the word "wealth" you think a greedy old miser (; But I'm changing my view on this because of WealthQuest."

 

The Parent Guide- This may very well be one of the best parts of this program in my opinion!  This 58 page guide discusses the need for the course, has an overview of the program so you can know at a glance what your child is learning, discusses allowances and jobs and encourages you to really think about money and how you want to teach your child.  It is well written and very informative.  It remind me that OUR thoughts and feelings about money can easily shape those of our children and must therefore be well thought out and then clearly communicated. 

 

I encourage you to check out the short video about Jill and her program.  I do think it is a good resource and worth the money to use!  Jill is currently working on an Advanced Seminar, one which we would be thrilled to try as well!

 

 

WealthQuest for Teens is normally $50.00 but is now on sale for $39.95.   

 

  Disclaimer- We received WealthQuest in exchange for our honest review of the product.  The opinions expressed are our own and were not influenced by the company in any way.