What’s the best grade to teach personal finance in? How did FoolProof become one of the leading online personal finance curricula? Learn more in this week’s podcast! 

Mike Sheffer, Director of Education at the FoolProof Foundation, joins us on the NGPF Podcast to talk about his journey to getting into personal finance education. Mike shares with us FoolProof’s origin story and how it’s evolved over the years. Enjoy!

Details:

• 0:00~0:58 Introduction
• 0:58~4:22 Mike’s background
• 4:22~8:54 First job experience
• 8:54~20:17 The FoolProof story 
• 20:17~24:50 Entrepreunerial journey and growth of FoolProof
• 24:50~31:54 What does a FoolProof lesson look like? 
• 31:54~36:37 Best grade to teach personal finance in
• 36:37~40:38 Current state of personal finance education
• 40:38~46:53 Addressing the issues with gambling
• 46:53~47:45 Concluision

Resources:

• FoolProof Foundation

Quotes:

• “[In regards to advocating for increased access to personal finance education,] I've been rolling a boulder uphill for a long time, and now its turned to snow and now and its a snowball rolling downhill fast, there isn't anybody that's not talking about it, there isn't anybody that doesn't want to make sure they are talking to t

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

Ren Makino

Ren started interning at NGPF in 2014, and worked part-time through high school and college. With his knowledge growing alongside NGPF, he joined the team to work full-time after graduating from college in 2020. He is also the producer of the NGPF podcast. During his free time, he likes to try out coffees from different roasters across the world.