Girls Bond Over Banking

by Caroline Shannon

While many expect young girls to be fascinated with Disney Princesses or to memorize all the songs from High School Musical, some business experts are working to push a more practical interest – an interest in finance.

Yep, we’re talking about clubs and camps that teach gals about saving, investing and other personal finance concepts – all life necessities that experts feel, if started early, can make a girl’s professional adult life more successful.

Marsha Firestone, Ph.D, CEO and founder of the Women’s Presidents’ Organization, says programs like these are a necessity, seeing as how “people are programmed to teach young girls one way and boys another way and not necessarily with forethought.”

“We have research that indicating that at about age 11 girls start to lose self confidence,” said Firestone. “It is a programmed response to treat them differently. People do not ask young women to make financial decisions or take financial responsibility.”

Firestone’s concepts are especially proven true by statistics that show women of all ages continue to trail men in salary, math class and financial literacy. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 53 percent of women are not covered by a pension compared with only 22 percent of men.

“It becomes intimidating dealing with money because they have not had that experience growing up,” Firestone said. “There is a tendency to think girls will be taken care of and we know that is not a life long solution because things happen along the way. Health problems, downturns, divorce. It is clear that young women have to be economically empowered.”

Firestone’s solution to the problem is Cashflow for Girls, a WPO program run in conjunction with Sam’s Club. The curriculum is based on the game Cashflow for Kids and designed to provide young women with financial knowledge and connect them to role models who are running their own businesses, Firestone said. At the end of the program, each girl receives a game if she promises to teach 10 girls how to play the game.

The Cashflow girls enjoy learning about credit and finance, Firestone said. In fact, one of her most memorable comments came from a young girl who said, “I’m never going to use a credit card because I don’t want to owe all that money.”

And Cashflow for Girls is not the only finance program available to young girls. Other camps include, Camp Millionaire in Santa Barbara, Calif., founded by Elisabeth Donati. The camp has grown to be so successful that Donati had expanded and started Creative Wealth for Women workshops which concentrate on female-specific issues for adults, including pregnancy and the notorious glass ceiling.

“Girls are treated differently, and programs, such as Cashflow for Girls, even the playing field,” Firestone said, referring to the disadvantage many females meet when stepping into the business world. “They would be educated in the financial aspects of earning and building wealth. And, once they are educated they will not fear the subject or lag behind.” Firestone offered a few tips to help girls – both young and adult – grow into successful business professionals:

• Take responsibility for yourself financially.

• Take care of you forever.

• Make sure you are not intimidated by financial responsibility.

• Ask questions that will answer the things you do not know, and do not be afraid to ask them. If someone does not answer, move on and ask someone else.

• Be prepared to take care of yourself throughout your life. A very successful friend of mine who has worked on Wall Street all her life told me that she got divorced because she could. She had the ability to take care of herself.

“The single most important goal for women in terms of leading a stable existence is to be economically secure,” Firestone said. “It is just as important to a young woman as it is to a young man. The knowledge and expertise will help them be not only economically empowered, but financially secure.”