Today I’m a part of the Roth IRA Movement.
Of for those of you on twitter, the #RothIRAMovement
This all started with my good buddy Jeff Rose, who asked a group of over 50 college students to raise their hands if they knew what a Roth IRA was. Not a single person moved, except maybe to send a text or scratch their butt.
Jeff was talking to graduating seniors only a few months away from leaving school and entering into the real world. You’d think at least a few of them would have heard about a Roth IRA.
Unfortunately kids don’t know a whole lot about personal finance at all because lots of parents and schools don’t teach them.
We Need to Get Back to Basics
It all starts with getting a job. If a kid graduates college at 22 years old without ever having a job, how can we expect him to know about a Roth IRA. He wouldn’t even understand income tax, so how can we expect him to understand the implications of a Roth IRA on taxes?
If young adults are going to understand intermediate personal finance concepts like Roth IRAs, taxes and compound interest, they need to be exposed to the basics of personal first.
High school kids should be allowed and encouraged to have a job. When they get to college, it’s even more important. They need real money experience because the get little to zero education on the subject.
Even if he’s never held a job in his life, a kid who graduates from college in four years has at least 16 years of formal education preparing them for 8am to 5pm as an adult. Why do we completely ignore educating them on what is expected of them for the other 13 hours of the day?
You and I Need to Do It
If the school curriculum isn’t going to change and parents aren’t going to cut the cord, then the only option for young adults to learn about personal finance outside of experience is through friends or the internet.
That’s where you, me, and the rest of the Roth IRA Movement comes in.
I realize that just about 100% of my readers know Roth IRAs forwards and backwards. Today, I challenge you to find someone who doesn’t know about them and help them understand.
It doesn’t have to be a young adult; anyone who doesn’t know about Roth IRAs is fair game. I challenge you to find and educate at least one person today. You can send an email, make a phone call, or stop a random person on the street. Just teach someone today.
And as always, feel free to use my awesome Roth IRA video.
FYI, if you search “roth ira” in youtube, my video comes up as number 2. Freaking sweet!
Carnival Links
Carnival of MoneyPros at Money Reasons
Financial Carnival for Young Adults at 20s Finances
Carnival of Retirement at The Frugal Toad
Yakezie Carnival at Tackling Our Debt
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
My sister is 34 and the only reason she is starting a ROTH this year is because I have been talking them up for the last several years (she still saved on her own, but mostly in taxable account). She and her husband had so many questions and It was odd being the “expert” considering I’m the younger child.
My dad also had a lot of questions about what a ROTH was, but he is already retired and has plenty saved. He just said he wished he had known about this when they first started.
Keep spreading the word!
Loving the vid Kevin, Awesome Job!!!
This is an awesome video! Even though I understood the basics of a Roth IRA, I never fully understood why it is just that awesome – your video makes it so clear.
“because the get little”
should, most likely, be “they”.
thanks. good read.
Just watched Star Treck “First Contact” on HBO today. Weird.
*Shaking my head* Wow…. That’s sad that college seniors don’t know what a Roth IRA is.
Hi, just found your blog through Jeff from Good Financial Cents. I love love loved your video! (And not just because you looked like Brad Pitt in it!) You are really good at explaining things. Do you by any chance tutor 5th graders?