I enjoyed my recent conversation with Bill Dwight, Founder of FamZoo. Bill has been a source of wise counsel for me since starting NGPF (he’s practically a neighbor of mine) and I have benefited from his decade of experience and his common-sense approach. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss everything from Bill’s company FamZoo to raising five financially responsible kids to whether he prefers index funds or individual stocks.  Bill’s domain expertise in the area of personal finance is amazing (not to mention his social media expertise!). Enjoy the podcast!

You will hear Bill answer such questions as:

• How exactly does FamZoo work and how has he tweaked the product to meet young peoples’ needs?
• What skills does his product develop in young people?
• How should teachers think about using Twitter to increase their content knowledge?
• What would he teach young people if he only had 45 minutes to work with?

Details:

• 0:00~1:14 – Introduction
• 1:14~2:20 – Bill‘s life before FamZoo
• 2:20~5:46 – How Bill got into personal finance
• 5:46~6:39 – His parents and their impact on how he thinks about money
• 6:39~8:58 – Where the idea of FamZoo came from
• 8:58~11:26 – How FamZoo works
• 11:26~13:33 – How do most FamZoo users use FamZoo
• 13:33~15:27 – Savings on FamZoo
• 15:27~17:46 – Where the 0.27% interest rate came from
• 17:46~19:29 – FamZoo goals for kids
• 19:29~21:26 – Importance of emergency funds
• 21:26~25:10 – New FamZoo features
• 25:10~32:43 – Index funds v.s. stocks
• 32:43~36:14 – What would you teach students if you only had 45 minutes?
• 36:14~44:58 – Bill‘s kids
• 44:58~49:47 – Lightening round
• 49:47~53:18 – Twitter for teachers
• 53:18~54:47 – Conclusion

About the Author

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.