At NGPF, we pride ourselves on keeping our personal finance curriculum current (one of our four Cs). Why is this a core value? For one, teachers tell us that when their textbook or worksheet has a 2008 date on it that students know this reflects a bygone era when apps referred to what you ordered before your main meal and saying "I'll just Venmo you" would have drawn some curious stares. Second, as these two examples prove, the pace of change in personal finance (and the job market) has accelerated. It is more important than ever for us to look around corners and create a product that ensures students are getting skills they need to thrive. 

How do we keep up? Simple. We listen. We listen to teachers, as well as the students we teach, as they are the early warning system. As the early adopters of new products and new technologies, when teens start asking questions, we know it's time to start creating lessons and activities. Our Bitcoin primer and a lesson created by awesome educators Amanda Volz and Brian Page are good examples of that.

Another example came to the fore this morning. I stumbled (I do a lot of that) on a LinkedIn survey that asked talent developers, executives and people managers what their top priority for 2018 was. Their answer: Training for Soft Skills. Hats off to Danielle (who led the charge on this initiative) and the NGPF curriculum team for listening to teachers who identified this skills gap in their students. First, it was one teacher at an NGPF FinCamp in Nashville, then it was another educator who emailed us to find out how we addressed "soft skills".

Two data points make a trend line and the NGPF team went to work creating a lesson and engaging activities in which students learn through role plays how to accept criticism, resolve conflicts and be flexible.

Thank you to the teachers who reached out to us to identify this need and keep the feedback coming so we can continue to deliver on our commitment to stay CURRENT.  Visit our website at www.ngpf.org to ensure that your students are developing the skills to thrive in today's job market.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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