Recently I have seen advertisements by mutual funds for training young investors.  The pitch is to parents for “kid investment” programs”, offering material that is geared more to keeping parents involved than young adults.  The kids oriented mutual funds invest in high profile stocks they feel kids identify with.  The marketing ploy is angled for parents and grandparents who want to plan or are planning for college investments.  If you are willing to dig a little deeper and look objectively at these programs, you will find that it is more a training program for long-term name identification, rather than an education of children about investing.  After all the hoopla, the other consideration should be about fees and return on investment.

If you want to teach your children about investing, it is imperative to start with the basics.  What is a corporation?  Why does it issue stock?  What is a stock certificate?  The education should be about money with an understanding of how it works.  Have them lookup in simple dictionary, all the terms associated investment that come up in your discussions.  The most important thing here is that if your children do not understand the words, they will miss the concept and lose interest in the subject.  The same works for adults as does for kids.  If the adult does not understand the terms, then the adult will miss the meaning and the concept and turn look for help out of overwhelm.  You can expand your education along with your children.

Keep tuned to moneymanagement.com for the announcement of a soon to be released book titled Wall Street Complete Reference Guide, that will help in the process of educating and simplifying financial terminology.

Light Gains .. Greater Profits  A new methodology for consistent gains in the stock market