Heather Murata

Schools Fail to Teach our Kids “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees” We Pick up the Slack! EASY & FUN Don’t Wait for Your Child to “Learn the Hard Way!” Everything Children Learn Today Carries Into Future Financial Success! [Note to Designer: In a box] The school system has failed our children. After high school, most students are ill-equipped and underprepared for navigating life’s most challenging situations… …their financial choices have the power to make or break them, potentially spelling disaster… It doesn’t have to be this way! Take 10-year-old Annie, for instance… Annie learned the hard way that money doesn’t grow on trees. Her dad got laid off. One month later, when he still hadn’t replaced his job, her mother went to work in the school cafeteria so she could bring in extra income but still be accessible to the family after school. Family trips to the zoo were suspended. Ironically, Annie and her brother could no longer afford a hot lunch at school, paper-bagging peanut butter sandwiches instead. Dinner consisted of ramen noodles or fried rice with spam and frozen vegetables three times a week. And driving 45 minutes to the nearest beach? Out of the question — gas was too expensive. A Light in the Darkness Then, one day, Annie’s grandmother stopped in for a visit. Scraping by on social security and a small pension, there was very little she could do to ease her daughter’s financial nightmare. But she had stumbled upon something that she believed could help her grandchildren with their financial future. And it was something that she could afford to give as a gift…something that could shine a light in the darkness and help to renew the sparkle in her daughter’s discouraged eyes. The extraordinary outcome of Grandma’s gift, however, far exceeded her wildest expectations… …But I’m Getting Ahead of Myself Maybe you’re not experiencing financial hardship right now. Maybe your children enjoy a healthy, hot meal at school—sizzling steak and potatoes for dinner—and take turns picking the weekend family get-aways.