"Smart Money Smart Kids" by Averi

"Smart Money Smart Kids" by Averi - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

When asked this question it didn’t take me long to think of a book that all high school students should read before going to college. “Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money” by Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze is not only an interesting read but teaches us how to deal with money in a debt-filled world. Financial planning is a very important skill for all people not just college freshman so it’s very important for these students to understand money, how it works, how it can make life easy, or destroy you… and it all depends on what you do with it and how you use it.

This book starts off with the basics of working, spending, saving, and giving. Balancing these four aspects of money can be frustrating and extremely tedious when having to figure it out on your own. As Dave Ramsey says in his book “You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you”. He provides a certain set of guide lines to lead young students to success. For example he mentions that 10% of your money should go to giving, while 40% is to spending, and 50% to saving. I know that most of the time, the money I make at work all goes to spending and that’s because I know that if I need money for dinner, school, car repairs, or fun events I can ask my parents to provide. However one day I won’t have that support and will be living on my own in the real world as a legal adult… and this thought would terrify me. I was so nervous about money and college and debt that it affected my dedication to go to one. Until I read this book. It even goes into a more complex understanding and moves into more challenging issues like avoiding debt for life, paying cash for college, and battling discontentment. This book has given me a completely different understanding of money and how to be responsible with it.

Many college freshmen will go into a debt they can’t get out of. Both of my parents battled with debt for ten years until they started following Dave Ramsey’s books and ten-week study program. Now they lead this study program in our church to help others become familiar with how to be successful with money. I am in debt, not in money, but to Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze for giving me a no-nonsense, and common sense lesson on how to approach money.

“You must have a game plan. If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” –Dave Ramsey