Finance for Youth @ UBC is a newly established club at UBC. Our goal is to promote awareness for financial literacy amongst university students. Our team consists of university students varying in age and faculties. Some of our events include speaker sessions, dessert nights, fundraisers, etc. As well, we provide volunteering opportunities for our members throughout the year. These opportunities include presenting in partnership with Junior Achievement, mentorship in high school and volunteering at our annual FLY Conference. We are united in our belief that financial literacy is important to our society, and that the foundation of financial responsibility must be built at a young age.

Volunteering Opportunities 

1.       Junior Achievement Partnership Program

Junior Achievement is a Vancouver based non-profit organization seeking to promote financial literacy for youth. In partnership with Junior Achievement, FLY will provide university volunteers to present a curriculum to senior grades in schools. This is a great way to give back to the community through sharing your financial knowledge. It will also be a great opportunity for you to strengthen your presentation skills as well as enhancing your resume. There will be full training and orientation opportunities provided by Junior Achievement. As well, JA will provide all necessary presenting materials. You can choose to present the curriculum by yourself or with a partner, depending on the availability you provide.

2.       Mentorship at High School

The purpose of the mentorship is to connect high school students to university leaders, as the MiniFLY team is extremely interested in learning about post-secondary experiences. In a group of 3-4, university students will visit a school of their choice a few times. During the sessions, there will be various facilitated activities provided by FLY@UBC. These activities include icebreakers, Q&A session regarding post-secondary transition, games, and food. The university group, depending on your availability, will determine the scheduled sessions. Some topics that could be communicated through sessions include why you decided to join FLY and why you think financial literacy is important. If you are unsure how to communicate with the MiniFLY team, the executives from Community Outreach will be continuously helping out.

3.       Volunteering at FLY Conference

To be determined closer to date. The FLY Conference takes place on May 5^th, 2012.

If you are interested, please complete the following:
1) FLY@UBC Volunteer Application 2012 
2) Submit a resume by  December 21^st, 2011 at 11:59PM to quinine.sin@financeforyouth.ca & Katrina.suen@financeforyouth.ca

We are currently recruiting a team of high school students for our miniFLY High School Chapter Committee for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year.  What this team will do is not only set up and maintain a FLY school club in their own high school, but also organize community-wide events for students within the school district.  We are looking for enthusiastic, creative, and passionate students to join our miniFLY team. If you are someone who wants to grow in initiative and help promote financial literacy, you are a perfect candidate!

FLY Conference

The FLY Conference is a one-day conference targeted to teach students basic personal financial knowledge. Last year was a third annual F.L.Y. conference, which included teachers and business professionals teaching workshops based on the F.L.Y. curriculum. The conference also included a tradeshow where financial organizations were available to answer any financial questions that students may have. Following the success of our previous conferences, we hope to continue empowering students to take control of their own personal finance through a larger-scale conference this year.

We believe that good work always come from the collaboration of great people. As the F.L.Y. conference is now an anticipated event, we hope to take the conference one step further this year. In order to do this, it is very important that we have great people like you on our team. Come join us for a chance to be part of a student-run non-profit organization, and you will have the opportunity to contribute your unique ideas and experiences to the making of a great conference!

We are hiring for the following positions:

Logistics and Workshop Coordinator
Communications Coordinator
Tradeshow Coordinator
Promotions Coordinator
Design Coordinator

FLY @ UBC

As our team believes that financial literacy applies to everyone no matter what faculty they are in or what career they are pursuing,  students from all faculties are welcome to attend our events and join our volunteer activities.  In order for us to establish a strong presence at UBC and create fun events throughout the year, we need a creative and dedicated executive team with the desire to create something new.  Join us if you are up for the challenge!

We are hiring for the following positions:
Internal Coordinator
Community Outreach Coordinator
Event Coordinator
Marketing Creative Specialist

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So if YOU are :
1) Post-secondary student,
2) Interested in learning and educating financial literacy
3) Passionate about financial literacy, and want to challenge yourself

Please apply for our FLY Conference and FLY @ UBC 2011-2012 executive positions!

a) FLY Application for Fly Conference and FLY @ UBC
b) [FLY] FLY Conference Roles
c) [FLY] FLY @ UBC Roles

Please submit your resume and application form by Wednesday, July 27th. 2011 at 11:59PM to both maggie.kong@financeforyouth.ca and angel.chan@financeforyouth.ca. Please put “First Name Last Name – FLY Chapters Application Submission” as the subject of the email. Late applications will not be considered.

During our last FLY meeting, I received the privilege of learning about a number of financial concepts. Our first lesson was about monetary cost, opportunity cost, and sunk cost. We used a scenario to better understand the terms. Assuming I was going on a non-refundable trip to Hawaii and I took two weeks of vacation from work, monetary cost would be the price of the trip. Opportunity cost would be the price of the trip as well as the two weeks lost that I could have used to earn money. However, if I was diagnosed with an infection and I was highly recommended to no longer go to Hawaii, I would have to make the decision of going on the trip (since I already paid for it) or staying at home (to improve my health). In this decision, the cost of the trip would become the sunk cost because the trip is non-refundable; basically something I have already done and cannot take back. In addition to those concepts, I also learned about cost-benefit analysis; the weighing of the benefits versus the cost, supply in demand; the cost of an item determined by the demanded of the item from the consumers, and inflation; a rise in price.

Personally, I felt this lesson was very enlightening. These concepts not only play an important part in the world of economics but can also be utilized in my everyday life. As an example, going back to the Hawaii scenario, if I were to have chosen to continue going to Hawaii knowing my infection may worsen, the sunk cost of my trip would have increased. If I were to choose to not attend the trip, my only losses would be the non-refundable payment that I cannot get back (hence the sunken cost). But if I were to have chosen to travel to Hawaii, I would have not been in my best state and nor would have been able to fully enjoy my trip. That means I would lose even more than just the cost of the vacation itself! This lesson taught me that whenever I make a decision, I should not make the psychological error of taking sunk cost into consideration; affecting my overall choice.

In addition to these concepts, I also learned about budgeting. Budgeting is a comprehensive financial plan to help one budget. There were many terms that I learned such as fixed expenses versus variable costs, and fixed income versus variable income. Fixed expenses means the necessary spending one must make in order to maintain survival. Variable cost is quite the opposite; it is the excessive expenses that are not needed in one’s everyday life. Fixed income is income that comes on a regular basis; for example a monthly paycheck or allowance. Variable income is money/wealth that is given by chance; for example winning a lottery ticket or receiving a $50 tip, “surprise wealth”. Furthermore, I learned that there are actually many tools online to aid with my budgeting! There are websites that offer free online budgeting where I can keep track of my expenses. There are also banks which offer online banking in their websites and that is also a very convenient tool.

I learned that with budgeting, I should take into consideration all of the above terms and apply them into my every day life. In order to maintain a healthy financial status, I should be honest with my spendings and make sure that my over expenses do not exceed my overall income. All in all, I learned that I need to be careful and make sure I am aware of my expenses. There are many methods to help with budgeting and I should utilize them to better my financial status! Coming from a girl currently unemployed, I would say that’s extremely important for me! Instead of living off my Chinese New Year money I should probably get a summer job and hopefully earn my way through instead of living from red pocket to red pocket!

Another type of investment we learned was fixed deposit. GIC (guaranteed investment certificate) is a type of fixed deposit investment. Normally, one would get a GIC during high school or university. This type of investment is less flexible where you are not allowed to take money out of the account. It has higher interest than a normal savings account.

Finally, we learned about bonds. Basically, a bond is where you lend the bank money, but the bank pays you interest for it. The bank does whatever it wants with you money, but in the end, you earn the money you started with and interests that the bank gives you. Bonds don’t have to be from the bank, for it can also be from companies or the government. The risk of bonds is that if the company goes bankrupt, you lose all your money.

Basically, we learned about three different types of investments: bank accounts, fixed deposits and bonds. The safest type of investment is banking accounts while bonds are riskier than fixed deposits or bank accounts. But contrarily, the riskier the type of investments, the higher the interest you earn. Therefore, there are pros and cons of each type of investment. We’ll just have to either take the risk for higher interest or keep it safe and settle for lower interests.

-hchoi (:

If you are, then we would like to invite you to join our FLY Chapters Start‐Up Committee.

What is Financial Literacy for Youth?

As a high school student, do you know how to manage your personal finance? Do you feel prepared for university where you may need to deal with student loans or income from your part‐time job? Are you ready? A few years ago, a group of university students and recent graduates realized that they actually weren’t ready to take care of their own finances entering or leaving university. Many students don’t seem to have access to relevant financial knowledge regardless of the discipline or post‐secondary option that they take on. Therefore, this group of university students set out to bring about improved financial literacy to put high school students ahead of the game.

What is the purpose of FLY Chapters?

To further our reach within the community, FLY has decided to start mini FLY Chapters across different local high schools. Each FLY Chapter will function as a club that has full autonomy to plan its own events, but will also collaborate with other chapters to plan community‐wide events. The FLY team will provide full support, guidance, and resource for the functioning of the chapters whenever possible. We hope that the FLY Chapters will empower students to release their energy and creativity to advance financial literacy amongst their peers.

What is the mission of FLY Chapters?

To raise awareness among high school students about the importance of financial literacy while educating students through fun events and initiatives.

Why do we need your help?

FLY has always been a grass root organization. We believe that no one knows what makes an awesome high school club better than you do! As 2010‐2011 will be the piloting year for the FLY Chapters, we hope to gather a group of entrepreneurial high school students to form a FLY Chapters Start‐Up Committee.

What will the FLY Chapters Start‐Up Committee look like in 2010‐2011?

As a part of this committee, you will set the foundation for how future FLY Chapters will run across the school district. After this initial year, we hope to launch FLY Chapters in 2011 as officially registered clubs that can recruit members within respective high schools. This is a very unique opportunity to contribute your ideas and make a lasting impact on financial literacy beyond your high school graduation.
For the first year, we plan to hold an event every 1‐2 months. Some ideas for potential events include:

1. Speaker Sessions
2. Video Contest
3. Amazing Race event
4. High School Tax Clinic

How will the Start‐Up Committee be involved with the annual FLY Conference?

Although the main role of the Start‐Up Committee is to pilot the FLY Chapters, the committee will also have the opportunity to be involved with FLY’s exciting annual conference. The committee will collaborate with the FLY conference Promotion and Workshop teams and ultimately be a part of the hosting team on the day of the conference!

Why should you join?

• It’ll be a meaningful experience that will push the limits of your creativity to have fun.
• FLY is there to help you grow as well. You will be learning from the Big FLY team made up of
• capable and committed university students who were in your shoes not too long ago. Our Director of Organizational Learning, Percy Tam, will be holding mini finance lessons that will be tailored to your interests.
• Percy is a CA working as a Tax Manager at KPMG. You’ll be sure to learn a lot from him!
• You will be a part of a major expansion of FLY to enlarge our impact to financial literacy in a sustainable way. Chapters multiple, but they only start up once! You can be a part of that.

What’s next if I am interested?

The next step is for you to complete the application form (download) and email it to Iris and Tinny by Tuesday, November 16th, 2010. If you would like to learn more about FLY, please visit our website at www.financeforyouth.ca. You are always welcome to contact us with questions!

Thank you for your interest in Financial Literacy for Youth! We hope to see you soon!

FLY Chapters Start-Up Committee Application Form (DOC file)

Iris Lo
Co‐founder
Financial Literacy for Youth
Email: iris.lo@financeforyouth.ca

Tinny Lai
Director of Development
Financial Literacy for Youth
Email: tinny.lai@financeforyouth.ca

For those who are unfamiliar with U-ROC, the U-ROC Awards celebrates the achievements of youth, youth groups, and asset champions within the Richmond Community each year.  These awards recognize people who have made a great contribution to youth and the Richmond community.

An asset champion acknowledges adults who have positively contributed or impacted the lives of youth.  F.L.Y. was awarded the U-ROC award due to its initiative in creating a high school curriculum about personal finance and also holding an inspirational personal finance conference to raise awareness about financial responsibility in youth!

As you know, the Pay It Forward conference will feature several competition-based activities.  Of course, the winning team will be awarded for the enthusiasm, knowledge and teamwork that they display throughout the day.  So, each winning team member will receive a $25 cheque from ING Direct to help kick start their savings!

Best of luck to all teams, and thank you once again to ING Direct!

Gabrielle Chan, our co-chair for F.L.Y.’s Pay It Forward Conference, will be going on The Early Edition show to talk to host Rick Cluff about our organization and our conference.  Gabrielle will also share with everyone some financial tips and advice, so be sure to tune into 690AM/88.1FM at 8:20am on Thursday May 13! This is an exciting achievement for F.L.Y., don’t miss out!

To find out more about The Early Edition and to listen to the show live online, visit http://www.cbc.ca/earlyedition/.