Gain Financial Literacy!
After reading the Rich Dad series, I concluded that I will not be able to accumulate great wealth without financial literacy as the foundation Without financial literacy, I will not be able to judge whether something is worth investing. Thus, I enrolled for a few courses on personal financial planning to beef up my knowledge in personal financial matters. It took me about 2 years of part time study to complete all the courses. And I have learned a lot of things and some of them are really bad news to me.
Why? With the new knowledge gained, I realized that there are quite a few of false beliefs that I had been holding with regard to money management. Just let me share a few false beliefs that I used to have and you judge for yourself whether financial literacy is important.
Firstly, I used to think that a dollar today is always equivalent to a dollar many years down the road. I simply have no idea on that value of money can change over time.
For example, I was able buy a bowl of noodles for fifty cents during my childhood time. Now which is about twenty years later, if I try to buy a bowl of noodles, it will cost me around two dollars. In other words, the two dollars today is almost equivalent to fifty cents during my childhood time. Thus, one dollar today may not be equivalent to one dollar in the future because they have different purchasing power.
In fact, the value of money changes almost every single day! Everyday, I will hear the news that the local currency either appreciate or depreciate against foreign currencies. If the local currency appreciates against a foreign currency, it means that $1 of local currency can exchange for more foreign currency. More foreign currency means that I can afford to buy more things from that foreign country since the value of local currency has increased.
Similarly, if the local currency depreciates against a foreign currency, it means that $1 of local currency can exchange for less foreign currency. Less foreign currency means that I can afford to buys less things from that foreign country since the value of local currency has decreased.
Secondly, I used to think that by putting my money in the bank is a good option. I felt that my money was growing in value by earning interest. To my horror, I realized that this is not always true. My money maybe losing in value instead!
If $1 today can buy more things than $1 in the future because they have different purchasing power, then there is inflation. Inflation rate is a measurement of inflation. If the inflation rate is 2 percent per annum, then the value of $100 today can buy the same amount of thing that is equivalent to the value of $102 next year.
Assuming that the bank only pay a 1 percent interest rate for my saving of $100 today, that means I will only have $101 next year in my bank account. But the value of $101 is less than the value of $102. In other words, my money will lose value if I have deposited my money into a bank that pays only 1 percent interest rate.
Next, I used to think that 1 percent difference in interest rate or return rate does not make much of a difference to increase the value of my money. Thus, I do not really bother to waste time moving my money or investment around. But when I have learned about compounding interest, I realize that it make a vast lot of difference especially over a long period of time.
For example, if I put a deposit of $1000 into a bank that pays 1 percent interest rate annually over a period of 30 years, the final amount of money that I will get is $1,347.85. The interest gained at the end of 30 years is $347.85. If I put into a bank that pays 2 percents interest rate, the final amount of money that I will get at end of 30 years is $1,811.36. There is a difference in interest gained between 1 and 2 percents interest rate is $463.51. What if the interest rate is 3 percent? The final amount of money that I will get at the end of 30 years is $2,427.26. The difference in interest gained between 2 and 3 percents interest rate is $615.9 that is almost 1.32 times of $463.51. For every 1 percent increases in interest rate, there is a huge jump in interest gained.
To me, financial literacy does make a whole lot of difference. Thus, I urge you not to neglect your financial literacy.
* Disclaimer *
The author only provides the material and information as a layperson’s views about an important subject. The materials and information are from sources believed to be reliable and from his own personal experience, but he neither implies nor intends any guarantee of accuracy.
All the materials, information and procedure in this book are only the author’s personal opinion. You must consult your own professional advisor and other reputable sources on any matter that concerns you or others.
The author, publishers and distributors are not competent and do not profess to give legal, accounting, medical or any other type of professional advice. The reader must always seek those services from competent professionals who can review your own particular circumstances.
The author, publisher and distributors particularly disclaim any liability, loss, or risk taken by individuals who directly or indirectly act on the information contained herein. All readers must accept full responsibility for their use of this material.
Max Ng
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/gain-financial-literacy-93613.html
The Literacy Writing Connection
The basic question posed by The Literacy Writing Connection is how is the writing of compositions, essays, short stories et cetera connected to the various forms of literacy for a child? Is any one form of literacy enough to get the job done?
Essentially no. Since there are a number of forms of literacy, no one form can do all that is needed. However, the exciting aspect is that the written works of a child are a key indicator as to his or her literary skills. By writing a short story, a child is exercising many different skills. For my purpose, the term ‘writing’ will be associated with today’s society, thereby involving computers as well as paper and pencil.
Of the many literacy forms including, but not limited to, Media, Global, Multi-cultural, Scientific… the ones that stand out with respect to children are Functional, Information, Mathematical and Computer.
Functional is the easiest to understand. Can the child use basic reading and writing skills to get crucial ideas across or to interpret incoming ideas in order to stay safe. By crucial we can focus on the essentials of life and expand from there. Can they communicate verbally and on paper?
Information refers to the child’s ability to understand that he or she requires additional knowledge on a subject and to go and get it. Once retrieved, can the child process and evaluate that knowledge? And finally, can the child apply the new knowledge effectively to solve a problem or otherwise? Let’s call this the ability to research.
Mathematical is straightforward enough and does not involve higher math skills. This points to a child’s understanding of the most basic mathematical symbols and operations. You might say it also helps with drawing comparisons, such as ‘he has more than I do’ or ‘this is darker than that’. It can assist with spatial awareness as well, but we’ll leave that alone for now.
Finally, Computer Literacy. This is, in its simplest form, the abiity of the child to turn on the computer, run a wordprocessor, type a story, print it and save it for later. You would be surprised how many adults can’t do this. Let’s call it keyboarding.
You can read more about this at Short-Stories-Help-Children.com.
If a child can produce a short story that involves any opinions, knowledge he or she did not possess before, regard for what could be considered adequate flow, balance or word volume, and get it across in a clear way; you have achieved a great victory. The child has communicated, researched, made comparisons and keyboarded to produce a meaningful story.
Focussing your attention on keeping these four forms of literacy (or parallel terminology) in good balance will build a solid foundation for learning the many complex subjects to come in their future. Try to imagine where the child would be if any one of the four forms was way out of balance. You may actually find you can apply whimsical names to each type of child.
Phil Girouard
http://www.articlesbase.com/homeschooling-articles/the-literacy-writing-connection-89729.html
What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century? (short version 8 min)
This video is an exploration of the definition of literacy: more specifically, of what it means to be a literate person in the 21st Century. Both producers are reflective practitioners who have strong literacy backgrounds. As practising teachers they have a vested interest in this subject. The producers realize that new media in a technological world is shaping the lives of youth and that as a result, redefining the literacy skills that will be necessary for youth to be able to function successfully in the world they are growing up in. The latter implies, by necessity, that the how, what and why of teaching literacy must also change. As a result of having the supposed static, print-centric notion of literacy upturned, the producers became interested in finding out if other educators at their worksites were experiencing this shift and in exploring how these educators were grappling with the notion of what it means to be a literate person and the corresponding implications in terms of their own teaching practise. Were they indeed rethinking what it means to be literate in an information and communication technological world, or upholding the traditional print-centric, paper and pencil viewpoint?
What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century? is an important and relevant issue that invites dialogue from all practising educators who work with youth. The world is changing and schools are required to make those changes necessary to help youth become fully competent, critical, and thoughtful citizens in the world they live in.
Duration : 0:8:3
How can my time spent as a Literacy Tutor pay off?
I have been donating my time at a local community college for the semester as a Literacy Tutor focusing on helping student develop their skills in reading, writing and the personal computer. My work is enjoyable,and I would like to apply my experience in the work force,but do not meet the educational requirements to become a certified teacher at this point in my academic studies What can should I do?
I’m not entirely sure, but I think Kumon or Sylvan hire people to tutor children during the week or summer–you might check out their websites for hiring policies and whatnot.
What strategies can a teacher use to help parents become involved with children for literacy skills?
I need a few strategies to encourage children’s parents to get involved with their development of literacy skills.
Our school collaborated with the library and a local university early childhood literacy classes to make a file box that went back and forth between the school and the home. Each box featured one book, had several related activities/projects, and all the supplies necessary to making the activities/projects. The PTA worked with the school librarian to restock the supplies each week.
This has been going on for years and is fabulous.
Parents/grandparents are asked to contribute a favorite book to the school collection to celebrate a child’s birthday. A memorial seal is attached inside the book and the children love seeing THEIR book on the shelves.