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/.

Thank you very much for signing up for Financial Literacy for Youth’s Pay It Forward Conference! We are really excited to meet all of you on May 15th, 2010!  Here are a few things you should know before the conference this Saturday:

• Please arrive on time at 12:15pm to sign in and find your group
• Use the Gilbert entrance to Steveston-London Secondary School
• You will be receiving a free T-shirt at the conference, so make sure you wear it!
• If there is any reason you need to leave early, please let your University Leaders know before the conference
• Prepare 3-5 thoughtful financial questions you want answered at the conference
• There will NOT be a place for you to store your personal belongings at the conference; so do not bring anything you won’t need, we will provide the materials you need (pens and paper, etc.)

As you know, the conference will have a team-based competition, where you can earn points as a team during different activities throughout the day. Hopefully you have been in touch with your university team leaders by now (if not, please send us an email at inquiries@financeforyouth.ca).  Be sure to display your teamwork, financial knowledge, and enthusiasm to earn lots of points!

Most important of all, we hope you guys have tons of fun!!

From the F.L.Y. Team 2009-10

The Richmond Review has posted up an article about F.L.Y. and our upcoming Pay it Forward Conference!
Take a look at the online article here: Money Managing Conference for Teens

The article will also be in the paper this Thursday so don’t forget to check it out!

Take a look at who is coming:

1. TD
2. BMO
3. Coast Capital
4. Vancity
5. CIBC
6. KPMG
7. Ernst & Young
8. Freedom 55
9. G&F Financial Group
10. UBC Financial Aid
11. SFU Financial Assistance
12. RBC
13. ING Direct

Would you recommend investing in stocks/currency? If yes, why?

Investing in stocks and currency can be an important part of your portfolio of investments.  However, it is also very risky for individuals who are not prepared to put in the time and effort required in order to gain a good understanding of these complex instruments.  The best advice I can give is to invest in something only if you really understand it and are aware of the risks involved.  Until then, leave your money in a savings account or a fixed deposit at your local bank or credit union, where the government guarantees your money.  When you have a better understanding of how trading stocks and currency works, then you can decide if it is a good fit for you.  Not everybody will have the risk tolerance to trade these types of investments.  The most important thing is to pick the types of investments that you will be happy with, to not just follow the crowd and buy what everybody else buys.

Explain the term “broker”.

A broker is somebody who fills a role in a transaction by providing a link between a buyer and a seller.  For example, when I trade a stock, I cannot sell it directly to the buyer, as the buyer is probably somebody that I do not know and is in a completely different city.  Instead, I place an order with my broker, instructing him/her to sell my stock.  On the other side of the world, the buyer also places an order with his/her broker, instructing that he/she would like to buy that stock.  While the two brokers do not know each other and do not work at the same company, they have access to the “marketplace” where the stocks are bought and sold, and so they can be electronically matched up with each other to make the sale.  Both brokers earn a commission (payment from the buyer and seller) for arranging the sale.

Do you think we are doomed to financial woes in the future when the baby boomers are retired?

Absolutely not.  As more baby boomers retire, that will open up more job opportunities for people of your generation.  Technology will continue to advance, so that we will not need as many people working as we used to in the past.  Every generation goes through different changes and every generation learns to adapt and succeed.  We are going to be just fine.

What are your current major investments?

My current major investments are Mutual Funds, Exchange Traded Funds (kind of like a mutual fund that you trade on the stock market), fixed deposits at my financial institution, and my car.  My investments are suitable based on my personal situation, but my friends have a completely different mix of investments because their situations and personal preferences are different.

When do you plan to retire? How would you go about doing that? (If the answer is no, why not?)

I do not know when I plan to retire yet.  I’m still 25 years old, so I have some time to go before I plan to think about that.  I still do not know where my career is going to end up yet!  But I do know that I need to make good financial decisions, as my decisions today will have an even bigger impact when I am older.  I want to make the right choices now so that even if I decide to retire when I am a bit younger, I will have the financial security to do so.  I am currently making the maximum contributions to my RRSPs and my TFSAs (please ask your financial advisor or somebody at our trade show if you would like to know more about these things) and have done the calculations to know that if I continue to do so, I will be free to make the decisions that I want to when I am ready to do so.

Update: Answers are posted – find the link at the bottom of this post!

ACROSS:

3.     Month of the F.L.Y. conference

4.     Legally declared inability to pay creditors

5.     Committing money with the expectation of profit

7.     Net income

10.   Money borrowed that is usually repaid with interest

11.   An obligation to pay or owe something

16.   Protection against future loss

18.   Outflow of money to pay for an item or service

19.   Put into a bank account

20.   A ______ account is a bank account that accumulates interest

DOWN:

1.     F.L.Y. stands for Financial ___________ for Youth

2.     A _____ card is issued by a bank authorizing payment for purchases

3.     Anything that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services

4.     Financial institution that accepts deposits and channels them into lending activities

5.     A fixed charge for borrowing money; usually a percentage of the amount borrowed

6.     Money paid to a government

8.     ________ interest is interest calculated on both the principal and the accrued interest

9.     Exhibition of companies that will be at the F.L.Y. conference

12.   An article of clothing that you will receive for free at the F.L.Y. conference

13.   Pay It _________ is the name of the F.L.Y. conference

14.   A piece of paper that orders a payment of money

15.   There will be two interactive ____________ at the F.L.Y. conference that will teach you personal finance

17.   A sum of money allocated for a particular purpose

The answers can be found here.