From Personal Equity To Financial Equity

Through my involvement with Youth Leadership America (YLA) mentoring high school students, I have always preached the importance of being future-focused! Part of that is, getting the kids I mentor to think about how they are building personal equity now, so there's more to look forward to in the future, giving them a higher chances to also wealth. 

I know bringing up the topic of personal finance is hard to be well-received since it's a subject that is normally not exciting to talk about, but the subject of building personal equity leading to building financial equity early is more attractive.

Building personal equity directly relates to your financial equity. For example, your worth to others, what knowledge, skills, talents and experiences you have that can solve problems, come up with new ideas, bring people together, get things done while others may not, etc.

There’s a reason why kids at early ages with the mindset of personal development have a higher percentage succeeding in all areas of their lives, including their personal finance. Any kid or young adult with such an early mindset are likely to achieve more beyond what is average.

How many high school students think about personal finance early, let alone ask the questions about building personal equity for themselves and really internalize it? Well, show me a student who has a personal development mindset of committing (not wanting) to better themselves, who does not turn out to be a high achiever? So far, I have not met one :)

So beyond preaching or teaching “personal finance” and having a financial literacy program at schools or colleges, it’s important to focus on the values of building personal equity first! Get students to see the connection that Personal Finance should be more personal, because we should drive our finances. Don't let it drives us!