 Welcome. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Sister Power Guest's role in the community is helping the next generation understand money management. Our topic for this segment, Next Generation Financial Learning. Get Real Financial Reality. Today, Jeannie Yukitomo, OYE, USA Federal Credit Union, Senior Relationship Officer, and Kathy Morris, Program Director for Financial Reality Foundation, is here with useful tips and effective solutions to students to better manage your finances so you can reach your goals faster. The Get Real Financial Reality Fair is a fun, hands-on way for students and young adults to learn about managing decisions about everyday expenses and provide financial advice to help them keep a budget. To learn more ways for the next generation to reach their financial goals, meet Sister Power VIP Guest, Jeannie and Kathy Morris. Hello. Hi there, Loha. Loha, welcome. Loha. Welcome to Sister Power. Thank you for having us. It's our pleasure. Oh, thank you. I'm excited for Hawaii, USA. We have a celebration today in the newspaper and we have a clip here of the advertiser that is Happy International Credit Union Day. Tell me a little bit about this picture. We were doing an event in our IAEA branch and this is our team and we decided to do Have You Saved for a Rainy Day? So we had raindrops, we had all the staff and galoshes. We just kind of all came together as a team to get that message out. Have these folks saved when the hurricane came? Have you saved for a rainy day? Oh, I love that. All right, so Happy International Credit Union Day. So let's get started. Let's get started and let's talk about money management basics. And what I'm so excited about this is I think that we start late talking about money management. And what ages do you start when you're talking about the financial learning? What ages do you start? Is there an age limit? None at all. I'll give you an example. In our Kapolei area we have a school island Pacific Academy. They have a teacher that's very proactive. She decided it was going to be great to have her fourth grade class have a in-house student-run credit union. So we go there to mentor them every three weeks, talk to them about savings, how to open an account. One of them is an entrepreneur already in the fourth grade. And the fourth grade. Yes, Mr. Jobs. No, just kidding. The next Mr. Jobs. The next one, definitely. So fourth graders, it's not too early to learn to have that concept of where a dollar goes and how your mom and dad put it into their ATM account. It's empowering. It really is. Kathy, we've known each other for a while and did not know about each other. That's correct. But we've seen each other coming and going. Tell me a little bit about what you do. What I do is we go into schools. We have, I belong to the Financial Reality Foundation and we do what's called Get Real Financial Reality Fairs. And what that is, is that we go into schools, we target high schools, particularly seniors because those are the ones that are right on the cusp. They're either going to go into the workforce or they're going to go right into college. And so with that, we partner with credit unions. We bring the fare into the schools. So a little bit about the fare. We have like over a hundred and twenty-four jobs that they can choose from. So hopefully they pick something that they're thinking about in college or either in the workforce and then they receive a budget sheet and that budget sheet is a future life scenario. And so that future life scenario, they could be married, they could be married with kids or they could be single or single with kids. Once they pick their future life scenario, they get a two-sided budget sheet which has the amount of money that they make after taxes. Then it's time for them to go shopping. They buy their house, they buy their car, cell phone. Everything we do on a regular basis, monthly budget, they will do during this two-and-a-half hour period. And so the schools allow us to come in. It's free to the schools. The credit unions sponsor us and bring us into the schools. And with that, we unveil this project. The kids love it. They begin to think, I always ask them, how many of you all think you can budget? How many of you all think you can spend your parents' money better than they can? And always I have a couple of folks that will just be bold about it and say, I can. I said, okay, we're going to see you at the end. Wow, you said something about home ownership. And Jeannie, when I asked you about your responsibilities, I loved your answer. You said I have the best job in the world. Best job ever. The best job. Tell us a little bit about your job. My job is amazing because I believe my title as Relationship Officer is extremely broad. But what I do is I bring people together. So for example, say that you're on the big island in our Hilo office and you have ground beef. And she's over there and she's got tomatoes. And I've got the lettuce. I'm going to bring everybody together and we're going to have a heck of a hamburger. Okay? Okay. So what I enjoy about my job is I can teach people how to budget, how to save. And then in this pattern, in 18 months or so, they come back to us and I get a card in the mail. And it says, welcome to our housewarming. Please be our guest. And to know I played as a job, a little role, and them not being homeless, having a roof over their head. It's just, I cry. I'm an ugly crier. But it's just amazing to see how we help people and how we can change lives just all together as a community. I'm paid for this. Well, high five on that. You're okay. Good for you. But when you say you're a little job, living here in Hawaii, and we know how expensive the homes are here. So when you are putting these people together, that's amazing for people to be able to afford to live here in paradise. I call Honolulu the bus stop to heaven. And so you are making it possible for them to have a home. So how did the two of you hook up and how long have you been partners? Well, I've been in the credit union industry for quite a while. My previous vocation, I worked at the Hawaii Credit Union League, which is the trade association on behalf of all the credit unions. And through that partnership, I got a chance to meet with many of the credit unions. And she and I formed an unbreakable bond. And financial literacy and financial education fueled that bond of ours. And so wherever she was able to go, and wherever I was able to go to teach financial education, because that is my passion, I just truly believe that we've got to empower the next generation. And it's through the credit union's efforts. It's through our program efforts. And we're hoping that this program then transitions over into the parents. So the parents then will have that conversation with the kids when they bring their budget sheet home. You know, by saying, hey, is this really real? And it is. Yeah. I wish we had that when we were coming up. We said the same thing. It's so needed because who knows if Social Security is going to be around. Absolutely. And so this is vital, the information. Now, how do you choose the schools? Basically, the schools choose us. Oh, how do they know about you? Well, when we first started in 2015, our first school was Waipahu High School. And from there, word of mouth travels. And they began to reach out to me and say, can we do it at our school? So we do public schools, private schools. We're looking at home schools, universities. But through word of mouth, they would call and say, well, can you bring the program to our school? And of course, my answer is absolutely. So my next thing is to reach out to the credit unions. Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union is one of our largest sponsors along with other credit unions here. And then they decide to host. And when they host, they go into the schools along with my program. And we just continue on. And we have gained much success. And we have reached over, I want to say, 1,600 seniors the last school year. The last school year. So you started in what year? We started in 2015 here in Hawaii. Oh, my goodness. Now, our program originated in Alaska. But in 2015, we started in Hawaii. And we've been growing like gangbusters. And we have a number of schools that have been honoring us and allowing us to come in with their program. And it's been fantastic. I mean, the students, the way that the students respond is priceless. But getting in the after is what she's leaving out this afternoon. OK, I want to hear it. OK. So these kids are walking in. And for example, I'll use the high school Roosevelt. OK. So we're there. And it's right before they're graduating. Kids are on their phone. They're like, what am I going to do? OK, it's something for two hours. And then she'll make a speech and say, OK, now. It's time to get real. So we're pretending you are 24 years of age. And now you have a career. And they're like, two hours. I'll kill time. And when they're now looking at this and they realize, wait, I have a baby. I have a baby. Oh, yes. That's fun. And I have a job. This is how much I earn. I'm loaded. And then she's sending them off to all these different table representatives. But what they don't know is she's telling them, sell, sell, sell. You need that four bedroom, four baths, swimming pool, in Hawaii, Kai, buy that house. Or that BMW. They buy that car. They buy that house. And then they come to me at the end. They're like, oh, I'm only negative $5,000 every month. We're like, well, how are you going to live? You're now homeless. Wait, what? Well, they told me I needed this house. Well, everybody will tell you things. Do you have to listen and budget? We're teaching you to budget. Then all of a sudden at our end, they're extremely nervous, like, wait, get my calculator. What did she say? Don't talk to me. They're very changed in this matter of time. And we love it, just watching that 180 and we're sitting back just giggling, waiting for them to come. And there's so many epiphanies that happens with these kids because they begin to realize how much their parents have to do every month. And we include everything. We include credit score. They learn about how their credit score can fluctuate. They understand that credit score equals buying power. And we do that with these yellow balls here. So tell us about the yellow balls. OK, so the yellow balls are, now some of us may remember this and some of us may not. But you remember the eight balls you used to tell your fortune? Well, I think I remember that. Well, we have turned these into globes of reality. And so everyone starts out, all of the students start out with a credit score of 700. So then there are four tables where we check your credit score. That's your home table. When you buy a home, your credit score is checked. When you buy a cell phone, your credit score is checked. When you buy an automobile, your credit score is checked. And should you decide you need a loan, you can go to the loan table. And guess what? Your credit score is checked. So every time we turn these balls upside down and there are numbers on them. Plus or minus 10, 20, or 30. So their score goes up and down throughout the fair. And they begin to understand how much they pay is associated with that credit score. So this is the worksheet right here that the students start off with. Correct. And tell me about this worksheet here. I think there's something here. I'm just going to move this over a little bit so we can see the worksheet that the students start with. Tell us a little bit about that. So the first thing we do is that we gather them all up. And then we tell them you're going to pick a vocation that you're interested in. And over here we have about 124 jobs that they can choose from. So on your side. Yes. Over here. Are they job opportunities? Jobs opportunities. So hopefully we're capturing them. Then at that point they'll tell us which job they want and then they'll get the corresponding budget sheet that has the job on it. And along with that job, say for architect for instance, it'll come with maybe that architect has a spouse. And then that spouse maybe they have kids. They could have one or two or three kids already. The ages are there and the names are there. Okay. Okay. Well, when we come back. Yes. We are going to continue to educate, motivate, and inspire students and the next generations. And we want every parent to grab their children and sit down and watch this episode. Absolutely. Wonderful. We'll see you when you come back. Wonderful. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. And lend your time or your voice to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner, inviting you to come visit with us on cannabis chronicles, a 10,000 year artisty where we explore and examine the plant that the muse has given us. And stay with us as we explore all the facets and facets of this planet on Wednesdays at noon. Please join us. Aloha. Next gen. Next gen financial. Welcome back to Sister Power with VIP guest Jeannie and Kathy. And we're talking about money management for the next generation. So this is a program, parents, students, high school students, even if you're in college. This is a program of the episode that you should watch. And Jeannie, walk us through the Get Real Financial Reality Fair. Well, for us at Hawaii USA, we are such proud partners with Kathy and her team at the foundation. And what we love about it is not only are we an educators credit union, we've been in business since 1936. We believe in the fact of just giving that information and sharing it with the younger folks because we believe that they are leading the future and we need to better empower them with these skills. So being that we are educators credit union, we partner with her team. We send out a call to action for volunteers and then we're proposing to meet needs and be at one of these 14 or 15 tables for Kathy and her team. And they're so well oiled, we walk in and we're taught to upsell these folks and be real. Car dealers aren't going to give you a special rate. Even Kathy's husband wants. He said, welcome to Fast Joe's Auto. Come on down. And he's selling cars like crazy. And the amazing part is, this is what happens in the real world. They're not going to give you a budget. You may say, no, no, I'm not the Escalade type. I'm the Camry. You're leaving with an Escalade. So it's just kind of educating and working together as a partner with the foundation to give them the tools because at the end of this event, we're sharing with them. It's not just your mom and dad every month. If they're arguing and there's problems over finances, what happened when prom comes up? All these additional finances they don't think of. I don't. Well, Kathy, at the reality fairs, do you talk about student loans? Oh, yes. Depending on the job that they chose, if that job required some type of college education, on their budget sheet is already an amount for their student loan debt. So some of them come with student loan debt, some of them come with credit card debt, and some come with both already. So when they get their budget sheet, we let them know, here's your family, here's how much you make, and this is after taxes. And by the way, you already have some student debt and you already have some credit card debt. Now go ahead and have fun. Build your house. And we just, we send them off and they can go at any table that they like. One of the things that we have, we have a wheel of reality, which is a random life event. And as we all know, things happen to us. So is the wheel, is this the wheel at the end? That is the wheel. This is the wheel here that the students get at the end. Where is the wheel here? Okay, over here. This is our wheel that the students get at the end of the program. And so the wheel talks about career, health, home, tech, debt, family, play, cash, all those things that happen to us. Like one of the items on the wheel is a speeding ticket. And so if they spin the wheel and depending on where they land, then they pull a card and anything could happen. It's a 50-50 shot, either adding money to their budget or taking away. And this is one of my favorite stories because when they get the one that says that they have a speeding ticket, it's $200. And they was like, this is not real. I said, oh yeah, it is. It is real. These things happen. And they was like, you mean I just lost $200? And I played with them. Well, you shouldn't have been speeding. Speaking from experience. I kind of am. It sounds like it's a little personal. I kind of am. I've been there. And really, that's why I love this program because I can say that I've been in financial situations where I've had to struggle. And we all have. And so if we can give our students just a little bit of reality to let them know that, hey, this is what's going to happen. However, it's manageable. It doesn't matter how much money you make. It matters what you do with the money you make. And we teach them that. Hallelujah. That's real. Jeannie, how do you help students get organized? We like to start out with, we have, for example, what Kathy mentioned about Waipahu High School when we first met. We've had a credit union inside of Waipahu High School for 21 years. So what we like to do is we'll go out, have an actual student-run credit union in their facility. We're in the facility. They can open accounts. They can make deposits. They can learn to write checks because nowadays everything's electronic and digital. So we have to teach them how to write checks. So we have student-run credit unions that our credit union supports. And we go out into the community. We have them on Maui as well. We're working with our Hilo branch. And we like to go out and just share this information because they're in our community as well. So we want to make sure we perpetuate that same message. Well, how do you prepare the students to choose a bank or credit union? How do you walk them through that? Well, personally speaking at Hawaii USA, we actually have in the student-run credit union. We had one at a high school and we were asking how come the kids weren't opening accounts? Well, we had found out that they're from students from Vietnam, from Samoa, from all different places, Philippines. And we were asking, what was the drawback? They didn't have a state ID. So to make plans, we went ahead and pulled up online where to get the state ID. How much does it cost? What buses get you there? Because we can't just assume it's down on Fort Street. Where's Fort Street? So we have to make sure we give those tools so that they're educated enough to apply for an ID to be able to start establishing an account and start that saving pattern when they're young. What is the next Get Rail Reality Fair? Well, we have one coming up on October 24th. It's going to be at McKinley High School. And then also on October 24th, we will be on the Big Island at K. Owl High School. Is that on a Saturday or Sunday? That's during the week. Oh, during the week? It's during school hours. That's right. It's during school hours. When you go into the auditoriums, who do you meet with first to have this set up? The first thing we meet with, it depends. Most of the time it's a teacher, and then they bring in the principal and vice principal. And then I meet with all of the folks that will be associated with it in the school, answer all of their questions. One of the reasons we're even able to go into the schools is because it's purely and strictly an educational effort. We do not go in, you know, selling anything. We go in partnering to help our next generation. And that's what they love about it. And so once I meet with them, answer all their questions, then I meet with the credit union to see if that's something that they want to sponsor and host. And she always says yes, most of the time. Weakness. You are a yes woman. We met when we were doing... Valentine's Day for Hawaii veterans. Valentine's Day for Hawaii veterans. And Hawaii USA along with Jeannie, we gave hundreds and hundreds of bags. And again, thank you for that. That was so wonderful. And we've been sisters from another mother ever since. Ever since. Ever since. And what was cute is that relationship where you needed something. We were hoping to fill 50 bags, for example, with shaving supplies, things veterans would need. And I am a military brat. So I emailed a couple dentists that banked with us. Dentists. I said I need toothbrushes, toothpaste. And then I called somebody else that had. And it was 125. Awesome. And then we all wore red and showed up at the hospital. And it was just, I still have a picture that is just memorable to me of a veteran. I started to bring all the pictures. And I said we'll do that another time. People who know me, they know that I have an organization called Sisters Empowering Hawaii, Hawaii's foremost women's empowerment organization. And our mission is to motivate, educate, and empower all women. And what I love about the two of you, you're going out to the schools and you're educating and you're motivating and you're inspiring the next generation not only to take care of themselves, but they're at the age that now we're going to be taking care of our parents like we're doing now. Absolutely. So you're getting them started on the right road. So give us something that we have not covered. One of the things that I would love to share is when the students finish, they fill out an evaluation. And this is where we get a chance to see if what we're doing is having an impact. And I can pretty much say out of every fair that we have done, there's someone that will say, I now know it costs too much to have kids. I don't want them right away. Or they'll come back and they say, I need to understand the difference between my needs and my wants. And that is one of the main things that we want to get them to understand. You can manage a budget and just because you can't afford it right now doesn't mean you can't afford it later. But do what you can now. And so those evaluations, we give them back to the schools so that they can see the impact that their students are having along with what careers they chose. So the schools are able to see and think what the kids are thinking because they don't think like we do. They don't reason like we do. And seeing them interact with each other and one of the things I love and I've noticed this, like she said in the very beginning, they're on their cell phones, right? Well, when they begin the fair, those cell phones are up. They are communicating with each other. They're socializing with each other. And the best part, they're talking finances. So for that two and a half hours period, we have their undivided attention and they are talking to one another. And it's about finances. And it's like, that's one of the best things to see them put that phone. Or they may use it for addition, like a calculator. But for that moment, we've captured them. Well, you know, ladies, we always have to have a part two. There's so much information. I appreciate you, Kathy, and I appreciate you, Jeannie, for coming in and educating our students. And on behalf of Sisters in Power and Hawaii, I would like to offer the both of you a $5,000 scholarship. It's a $5,000 Argosy University Scholarship. Congratulations from Sisters in Power and Hawaii. And they have a, really, I'm going to give one to you, a $5,000 scholarship, and I'm going to give one to you because you worked so much. So that's $10,000. And I would love to hear from you because they can use this up until 2020. And let me know, and let's take the students on a tour of Argosy University. I have that connection with them. And we can do that. And we can start them off with something wonderful to start them off going to school if they're not able to go away for school immediately. Sisters in Power and Hawaii, along with Hawaii, USA, and Get Rail reality, is just a win-win situation. Finally, join the movement. Only 20 days left until the general election on Tuesday, November 6th. Absentee ballots drop this week, with early voting beginning October 23rd. When we all vote, we can change the world. When we all vote, we determine our future. Tune in to Sister Power on Thursday at 4 p.m. I'm Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, your host. And at the end, I am a voter. So vote, November 6th. Thank you.