Financial Fitness for Teens by Brianna

Financial Fitness for Teens by Brianna - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

When reading the assigned topic for this essay, I immediately started going through the names of books that I’ve read that have made a difference in my life. There are so many good books out there that truly should be read by teenagers before they get thrown into the big world away from parents and away from childhood friends. The book that stood out to me most and that I would like to talk about in this essay is Financial Fitness for Teens. It doesn’t have an official author, but the foreword is written by Chris Brady who is currently on the Top 50 Leadership Gurus in the World list.

This book stands out to me so much because it is a book that I wish I would have had in high school. It talks about “6 Steps from Broke to Abundant”. It talks about money in a way that teenagers can understand and actually apply to their life. So many financial help books are written for adults who are already in debt. This book talks to teens about how to stay out of debt and how to be financially free before they are even in the world making big money decisions. It is a great book because rather than fixing financial problems it is making it so financial problems can be completely avoided.

The six steps in this book are:
1. Understanding Money
2. Making Money
3. Saving Money
4. Investing Money
5. Spending Money

Each step talks about how to have a handle on money so you don’t have to go in debt. I recently read this book and it has changed my thought process completely. I’ve been in college for a year and a half now and I know that if I would have read this book while still in high school, I would be in a completely different place financially. One of my favorite quotes from the book is, “Adopt the mindset that says, ‘The fact that I have small expenses doesn’t mean I have more to spend; it means I have more to save.’” This quote hit me like a ton of bricks. If I had understood this in high school, I wouldn’t have had to get so many loans from the government so I could continue my education. I didn’t have any expenses in high school so I automatically thought I could spend it on material things that I didn’t really need.

This book has changed my life and thinking. This book would be a great benefit to high school students not only for their high school career, but for years and years to come. I believe this book can change the mindset so in the future, when the current high school students are the ones running companies and are involved in government, this country and possibly even the world will be in a much better place because the people in charge will have a good knowledge of money.