Student becomes the master: 17-year-old teaches personal finance to peers

Jacob Fine, a 17-year-old senior at Jericho High School, said he has run the Financial Freedom Initiative for the past two years, which he said he created to educate peers and younger students about financial literacy after realizing that social media has been a source of personal finance misinformation. He said he started taking online finance classes provided by the Wharton School when he was in the ninth grade. He said one of the classes, "Understanding Your Money," taught him the basics of personal finance, and said the principles seemed like common sense. He said from there, he began getting involved in Jericho High School's investment club, where he talked about personal finance with his peers. He said it was there he realized there was a gap in his peers' knowledge about how to manage their finances. Fine said learning more about personal finance inspired him and some friends to lead free workshops on their own time and outside of school, both over Zoom and in-person at public libraries and community centers across Nassau County, including the Merrick Public Library and East Meadow Public Library. Shanna Konowitz, Youth Services Librarian at East Meadow Public Library, said she was impressed with Fine's workshop after working with him last summer and this past summer to schedule a two-week workshop, hosting Fine and a friend to teach basic finance skills four times over the past two years. "For this type of topic, it's something that is kind of scary," Konowitz said in an interview. "Having a workshop that is taught by teens, while the attendees were mostly tweens, they're their peers and equals, and it makes it a lot less daunting when you have someone on your level that you can ask questions to, and approach." [caption id="attachment_371334" align="alignnone" width="700"] Jacob Fine and a peer teach young students financial literacy. Provided by Jacob Fine[/caption] Fine said what began as an in-person workshop has grown to include a newsletter, a Substack blog, informational Instagram posts made by a small team of peers, and even an app called Monucate, or “money and educate put together,” he said. He said his app’s teaching style offers short and bite-sized content, which he uses at the end of his workshops to test his students’ knowledge. He said he reaches out to professionals in the field to guest-speak during his workshops, like Ball State University's Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Anand Marri. [caption id="attachment_371333" align="alignnone" width="525"] Jacob Fine teaches personal finance literacy to peers. Provided by Jacob Fine[/caption] Marri said that before becoming provost at Ball State, he was a faculty member at Columbia Teacher's College, where he researched how people understand economics, especially personal finance. "I like to work with students and mentor them, especially when they're interested in economic literacy," Marri said. He said Fine reached out in April, and the two put on a workshop on the basics of personal finance for high school students and community members over Zoom during the summer, focusing on credit cards, college financing and debt. Marri said the peer-to-peer influence is crucial when students are just beginning their learning in personal finance and said first-time learners should start with the simple concepts and never pay for financial learning. “It's really paid off as I've made connections throughout the nation, internationally, and especially in my community,” Fine said. [caption id="attachment_371335" align="alignnone" width="700"] Jacob Fine leads financial literacy workshops across Nassau County. Provided by Jacob Fine[/caption]