Misrak Girma has helped teach more than 100 D.C. children from ages 6 to 12 about managing their money, as part of TD Bank’s WOW!Zone program designed to help kids develop strong financial skills. Girma is the assistant vice president of the TD Bank in Constitution Square. What kind of subjects do you cover when teaching kids about finance? Subjects include savings, budgeting, personal finance, understanding lines of credit and the stock market. TD Bank instructors teach roughly 5,000 classes of 100,000 students a year.
What is one of the most difficult concepts in money management for kids to grasp?
Children have a hard time trying to identify between their needs and wants. For example: Water, food and shelter are needs, and iPods and movies are wants. Children are always having trouble breaking down the difference between their needs and wants and deciding where they should be spending their money.
How do you think children relate to money?
The younger children have this notion that money is tangible and that it’s not scarce. They want to use it for entertainment purposes, on things that are not necessary to sustain their lives.
How do children relate to credit cards?
Kids in the first class, who were 6 to 10 years old, don’t have a concept of credit. They are not able to articulate what it is. The older children have a better idea of what it is, but I don’t think we saw any kids that actually had credit cards.
Why is it important for kids as young as age 6 to learn about managing money?
We believe it is very crucial to educate our kids every day about savings and give them the tools they need to engage in smart financial planning. It’s part of our social responsibility in the community.
What surprised you about the kids you taught?
Their understanding of needs and wants. It was an eye-opener — an amazing experience — to hear their thoughts about what they need and what they want.
Hayley Peterson
