She’s not a financial advisor, but a New York City teen is helping her peers learn steps to secure a better financial future.
Anna Genov, a junior at Dominican Academy, grew up seeing how people were affected by poor financial choices.
“I’ve been a witness to a lot of suffering due to poor financial decisions and kind of misunderstandings in regards to how to handle money properly,” said Genov. “I think that by living in New York, there’s a lot of homeless people, which is very unfortunate, and there’s also a lot of wealthy people. So I think that seeing this socio-economic gap has really motivated me to try and bridge that through education and financial literacy and equalize this playing field for everyone.”
Genov’s solution was to start Money Lessons for Teens last year. Despite what the name suggests, Money Lessons for Teens is a nonprofit that offers free presentations for kids as young as third grade to high school-aged children on a variety of topics, including budgeting, saving and investing.
Genov started by giving presentations at public spaces or out of her home, quickly branching out to schools and community centers. Her lessons are developed with whatever age group she is teaching at that time, and while the themes stay consistent, the level of complexity changes with the age groups.
“If it’s younger kids, I talk a lot about lowering expenses, like turning off the lights when they leave the apartment, not keeping the water running, making grocery lists, counting their money,” said Genov. “Then for older kids, I go a lot more investing, student debt, which is a very difficult subject, and stuff that’s in their day-to-day basis. Also simple and compound interest, taking out a loan, steps that are important for kids to kind of just keep in mind while they transition from being teenagers to being adults.”
Genov has since expanded Money Lessons for Teens to offer lessons in Spanish and German, which Genov is fluent in. So far, she has presented to over 150 kids from over 10 different schools, all while balancing life as a high school student.
“It’s something that I really love doing, so I make time for it. I try and send maybe three or four emails a day to new community centers after school programs in schools,” said Genov. “I’ve been able to balance it out like that a lot. I’m really passionate about this so I go and I try and make time for it. I’ll sacrifice going out for lunch or going out one day or hanging out after school for this because I really think that this is something that’s so important.”
Genov has her eyes set on going to college after graduation, and she also intends on growing Money Lessons for Teens even further. She hopes that in the future, Money Lessons for Teens can expand into more states beyond New York to reach more people looking to learn. She has also been beefing up the nonprofit’s online presence with podcasts, videos and financial literacy articles as resources for prospective students.
“I would love to grow this business and grow this nonprofit so that I could have other people going and giving presentations maybe in different states, making it even more national thing,” said Genov. “If I meet other people in college who are from different States, who come from different countries, they can take these lessons and bring them to wherever they’re from, to their families, to their friends. I definitely want to continue to grow my platform and reach a much broader audience because I think this is such an important thing for people to know.”
For those trying to get a start in taking control of their finances, Genov’s first tip is simple: budgeting.
“I think that budgeting is the fundamental part of financial management and money management, so making sure that you have enough money for your needs right now and you can pay off your loans, pay for groceries, pay for electricity,” said Genov. “I think once you have managed to keep your expenses within your budget and not spend more money than you have, you can start thinking about the next step, which is saving, opening a savings account, earning interest through a savings account.”
However, Genov says that before you make any major money moves, consulting a financial advisor is a must.
That’s what I always want to make sure I point out that this is all just tips that I have. I’m not a financial advisor and I’m not a professional in this, I’m just trying to help people,” said Genov. “So always consult a financial advisor before any big financial decisions.”
For more information about Money Lessons for Teens, visit moneylessonsforteens.com.
Note from Genov and Money Lessons for Teens: This is not Financial or Investment advice. Investments can lead to risks, please consult financial and investment professionals. This information is prepared from sources believed to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy, completeness, or reliability. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
