Interview with Ric Mathis,
ROSA: What is it that you do?
RIC: I have an 8-part financial literacy course for youth. I use the 7 principles in my book entitled “Kid’s Money Book, 7 Principles Every Child Should Know about Money.” I utilize the book along with the film “Black Friday Part 2. We discuss the principles and the different components of the film.
ROSA: What are the age ranges of children that you teach, and how do you teach them.
RIC: I teach various ranges of youth; some are very young and some are older. Whatever the ages I teach and instruct the course is fun and engaging for the children. It depends on the age group how the teaching is done. There is nothing cookie-cutter about instructing the course. I improvise depending on the group.
ROSA: How often do you do this course and where?
RIC: I do this several times a year, in different cities and in places like the YMCA. I’ve taught in New York, in Atlanta, and in other cities around the country. In fact, I’ve just done a screening with the Urban League. We’ve screened the film that I use to educate children everywhere from London to Alaska and from Ghana, to Bermuda. I travel all over the country and into other countries teaching financial literacy to youth.
ROSA: Can you tell me about some of the principles in the book?
RIC: One principle that I teach is “Follow your dollar”, another one is “Value your time.” Following your dollar means that every purchase made is an investment. Keeping track of what you purchase helps you to see the investments you make.
Valuing your time is just that. There are 86,400 seconds in a day. How that time is spent shows how you value it.
ROSA: What was your inspiration?
RIC: My inspiration came from the fact that technology has disrupted the way we do business. We’re now in the entrepreneurship age, we’re in the age of personality and create your own business. There is a youth on YouTube who is making money. Also, kids today don’t read like we used to; they are on their cell phones. That’s why I said, let me create a product to watch because people aren’t reading like they used to. They are watching T.V. I also said let me try to teach money and financial principles to youth and create an ecosystem for that.
ROSA: What return are you looking for from all of your efforts? How many children have you reached?
RIC: I’m not looking for a large return because people are set in their ways. I am looking for persons who will change handling their money habits. I am not looking for a crowd, but I want to expose key people on how to build wealth, protect it, and transfer it to the next generation. That won’t happen on a massive scale. It will happen on a small scale and then snowball into much more.
You can learn much more about Ric Mathis and purchase “Kid’s Money Book, 7 Principles Every Child Should Know About Money” by visiting his website: www.blackfridayfilmseries.com
