TED Community » Elisabeth Donati

About Me

I own and run Creative Wealth Intl., LLL, home of Camp Millionaire and The Money Game and the recipient of the 2010 Financial Educator of the Year Award from the National Financial Educators Council. I am expert in teaching the basic financial principles people need in a way that is engaging, empowering and fun. I am the author of The Ultimate Allowance, co-author of Rocks to Riches for kids and I write a weekly blog called Financial Wisdom with a TWI$T.

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More About Me

I'm passionate about

Financial literacy education for kids and teens, teaching teachers how to teach financial education in a way that is 'sticky' and health!

An idea worth spreading

The college is A way, not THE way.

Talk to me about

Teaching kids about money and investing and gluten-free cookiing:-)

People don't know that I'm good at

Making the best gluten-free peanut-butter, chocolate chip cookies on the planet.

Comments

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  • A comment on Conversation: Financial Education?

    Feb 9 2013: Ed...I started teaching kids and teens about money in 2002 and realized quickly on that money simply wasn't relevant to most of them...they just didn't need to know about it and understand it...YET.

    I knew that I had to make it interesting and also fun and I also knew that it needed to simulate money in the real world so at least they would get some experiential practice with how it works when you approach adulthood.

    When I created The Money Game...a physically active financial education game where the kids literally work for paychecks, learn to pay their bills, learn to pay themselves first, learn to invest in assets that then pay them passive income and, oh yes, events happen!

    The game of money is quite simple but learning the rules and practicing the rules is anything but because, as I mentioned before, money is one of the most emotional substances on the planet.
  • A reply on Conversation: Financial Education?

    Feb 9 2013: Pat...as much as I'd love to discuss memes and Santa Barbara politics, neither of them have any bearing on the topic. Just because I LIVE in SB doesn't mean anything about my politics.

    But what I know is financial literacy and you are completely wrong...it is NOT simple.
  • A comment on Conversation: Financial Education?

    Feb 7 2013: Pat, it is NOT that simple I'm sorry to say.

    I have been in the 'financial literacy' industry since 2002, created Camp Millionaire for kids and teens and a game called The Money Game. both highly effective and fun.

    Getting kids and teens (and the adults who tend them) to understand how money works is much bigger than basic economics. Why? Because as someone else pointed out, human beings are emotional and we buy things because of emotion...even the things we 'need' we buy because of some emotion.

    There are more reasons our country is financially illiterate than I could begin to cover and the rabbit hole is deeper than you'd ever imagine.

    1) Adults have a hard time teaching kids something they don't know or understand AND are uncomfortable with.
    2) Human beings make money mean WAY more than it really means. I teach that money is a tool to make our dreams come true but we make it mean something about who we are, how smart we are, how good we are, how successful we are, etc.
    3) Marketing skills have increased to the point where anything can be marketing to anyone, any age and it's not just the poor who are easily enticed...it's everyone. I have read that the most gullible are the people who think that they are NOT gullible!
    4) Financial education isn't required in most schools. When it IS taught, it's thrown into a grade or a semester and then you read articles that say Financial Education doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work! Either would math or English or science if it were taught for just one semester or one year.
    5) We have to stop lying to our kids, telling them that going to college and getting a job is the only way. Politicians scream that we need to create more jobs, but Hello, who do they think are going to create those jobs? Entrepreneurs! So why isn't THIS taught in every grade in America? Why does this seem so simple an answer but hardly ever done?
    6) We created a system that perpetuates the idea that we don't have to be responsible.

    Elisabeth
  • +1

    A comment on Talk: Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

    Oct 5 2012: This was an amazingly powerful presentation. Every 5th grade students should be given the opportunity to watch it before they go on to Jr. High!

    Just imagine the adults who could so easily feel better about themselves by learning this information! Thank, Amy!
  • A comment on Talk: Joe Smith: How to use a paper towel

    May 16 2012: This is great! And if you want to look at the money involved in addition to the actual paper, check this out: http://creativewealthprinciples.com/archives/285

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