Financial management program reaches out to Rebels

March 19, 2010 by Joslyn Garcia 

New seminars teach students how to get money for college

One UNLV program is showing youth how to manage their finances in spite of a tough economy.

Prudent Kids is a new program that gives students financial education through seminars.

“There is a big need for seminars that teach high school students of finances,” said Rick Forman, senior vice president of business development at AWG and Prudent Kids instructor.

The seminars consist of four basic learning modules: banking basics, employment basics, legal basics and financial prudence. These modules aim to help students understand concepts about credit cards, job interviews, debt, social networking, avoiding scams and the importance of education.

The program also covers different ways to obtain money for college.

“The bottom line is we are trying to give additional training to students on things they will need to know to be successful in the future,” said Forman.

The speakers consist mostly of graduate students with expertise in the areas covered in the program. The majority of the speakers are young, making the audience feel as though they can relate with them.

“They say that as a speaker you must put yourself in the shoes of the audience, in many ways we do the opposite by making it so the audience can see themselves in the shoes of our speakers,” said Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt, author of “Young Money: A Teen’s Guide to Avoiding Financial Hangovers,” came up with Prudent Kids after he was assigned to come up a business idea for one of his MBA classes. While searching for a plan, he came across an article about a program in Canada’s Bank of Montreal that would help increase the financial literacy of kids in the area.

“After reading the article, I felt that kids in America, especially in Las Vegas, could use a program like this,” said Goldschmidt.

With the guidance of Professor Steven Phelan, director of UNLV Center of Entrepreneurship, the support of the Nevada Small Business Development Center and the help of UNLV’s Graduate College of Business, Goldschmidt was able to create his business.

“I am a big believer in the program and a big believer in Nils,” said Rick Forman.

The fear of budget cuts has affected each student on campus, but Goldschmidt believes education is still vital to furthering the state.

“I want the people to realize how valuable UNLV is to the community,” said Goldschmidt. Currently, Goldschmidt is looking for people who are interested in promoting Prudent Kids to help benefit others around the community. Goldschmidt said he is willing to work with anyone who wants to be involved in the program.

The next seminar is scheduled to take place April 24 in the Tam Alumni Center from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. The cost to attend is $147 which includes a catered lunch, financial plan workbook, seminar workbook, grants and loans fact sheet, Young Money; A Teen’s Guide to Avoiding Financial Hangovers and more.

ON THE WEB: Prudent Kids: prudentkids.com