Zions Bank executive tells students how to be savvy savers

Zions Bank executive tells students how to be savvy savers

(Africa Studio, Shutterstock)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WEST VALLEY CITY — Before Kay Hall became a top executive for a Utah banking institution, he was a farmer from rural Idaho.

And while there are a lot of great things about agriculture, one thing for sure is that farming is hard work and among the toughest businesses to run.

Hall shared some of the important lessons he learned with students at Roots Charter High School on Friday. Located in an industrial park, Charter High uses an adjacent farm for educational lessons on the rewards of hard work and collaboration.

Hall, who serves as chief financial officer at Zions Bank, grew up on his family's dairy farm in Rigby, Idaho. He shared with students how his agricultural background helped prepare him for the world of finance.

"The important thing is that you have to educate yourself and learn to let money work for you instead of against you," he said. "In today's society, it's so easy to get credit (that) money works against a lot of people — especially certain classes in our society. It's a challenge."

The outreach effort was part of Zions Bank’s involvement in National Teach Children to Save Day. The goal, Hall said, is to equip teenagers with financial knowledge and decision-making skills to help improve their financial capabilities as they get older.

“Teaching students financial basics at an early age puts them on a path to becoming smart money-managing adults,” he said.

The students engaged in a mock investment activity to learn about varying interest rate yields and returns on savings and investment vehicles — from savings accounts to mutual funds and stocks.

Some took away some profound lessons from the exercise.

"This (experience) taught me a little bit about how to invest (correctly)," said junior Jonathan Adams. "I learned that interest rates are really important, and I need to balance risk with investing."

Related:

The 17-year-old said gaining knowledge about saving and investing is one of the most useful skills people his age can spend time learning.

"The sooner you can start to save, the more you have for retirement and other opportunities later on in life," said Tassey Caldwell, 16.

Caldwell, a junior, said she would like to one day become an entrepreneur, and learning sound principles for savings and money management could help her achieve many of her long-term career goals.

"Learning (these lessons) has taught me about not spending my money," she said. "I've always had this habit of spending my money (right away)."

By not spending money so quickly, Caldwell said, "you can actually have more of what you want, and it will provide you with more opportunities than you ever thought you could have had."

Teaching kids about financial responsibility

Set goals: Help set short- and long-term goals so kids can learn how to save money they earn through household chores, allowance, work or gifts.

Start talking: When your kids hear you generally discuss bills, loans and checking accounts, they can learn the roles money plays in life. Talk to them about your experiences with money — even mistakes. Encourage questions and be prepared to answer them.

Teach the uses of money: Teach kids the four uses of money: spending, saving, giving and investing. Help them allocate their money into those categories. For example, set aside 10 percent for savings, 10 percent for giving, and 10 percent for investing or long-term savings, with the rest for spending.

Keep track: Young people often learn visually, so you may want to create a system that allows them to watch their money grow as they save. For young children, clear glass or plastic jars work well, while older kids can record the money they earn and where they spend it, or open a savings account to see their money grow as they accrue interest.

Explain wants and needs: Teach kids the difference between the things they need and the things they want, as well as the value of saving and budgeting. There can be real-life consequences when these differences and values are not understood.

Source: Zions Bank

#zions_info

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahEducationFamily
Jasen Lee

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast