Welcome to the Money-Smart Students Program 🎯
This is a program for 16-to-22-year-old students in which they will learn how to become financially savvy, avoid costly mistakes that harm so many young adults, and make smart money choices with confidence using my proven financial system. ✅
They will learn how to effectively manage money and set themselves up for a great future without giving up their social life.
I want to ensure that they do not turn to me later in the 20s and 30s, saying, “I made dumb choices in my youth and I wasted so much money” as many former clients have said to me.
Or have them to turn to me as 40-somethings and say, “I wish I’d known this decades ago.” I often hear expressions of regret about what people didn’t learn or didn’t do with their money. 😭
This is an opportunity to give your child a huge advantage by equipping them with financial literacy skills as they head off to university, or wherever their next steps take them.
The benefits won’t just apply to the next four years; the students will reap the rewards for a lifetime.
It also takes the pressure off you, the parent, to know what to teach. 😌
Now that my older daughter is in her first year of university, people keep asking me, “What have you taught her? What does my child need to know?” 🤔
Since I’m a financial literacy educator, they want to know what I think kids need to know to create a solid financial foundation as they enter adulthood.
Parents want some guidance because schools don’t teach kids how to deal with money.
They learn advanced functions, calculus, and vectors, but they don’t learn much about earning money, managing it effectively, and creating a sustainable system.
When the topic does come up, they’re given a few quick lessons on how to budget or how to pick stocks. 🤦
There’s just one problem: Research and experience with hundreds of people over the last 15 years demonstrate that budgeting isn’t an effective strategy. And stock-picking is demonstrably risky.
Most people either hate making budgets, so they avoid it, or they find the process cumbersome and they don’t maintain their budgets.
Either way, it’s an approach that has limited success. So why do we keep teaching it?
By the way, if you’re an engineer or an accountant and you LOVE budgeting and it works like a charm for you, great! Don’t change a thing. But don’t be surprised if you try to sell your kid on the beauty of it and they want none of it. It’s not your kid; it’s the process.
Back to the original question:
What is this finlit educator doing with her girls?
Those questions were the inspiration for this program – an amended version of my Take Charge of Your Money course for adults.
This Money-Smart Students program will include the material I’ve taught my daughter.
"Thank you so much for teaching this course! I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us, and helping prepare me for finances in the real world. I have learned so much from it, and my spending and saving habits will
definitely improve because of it.
This course is the most helpful course I've taken, and is the one that will probably benefit me the most in my future."
🛤️ The Secret to Being Financially Solid
The curriculum in the Money-Smart Students Pilot Program stems from fifteen years of working with people as a financial repair specialist and a money coach. I know what works and what doesn’t.
I’ve tested every aspect of money management personally and with my clients.
I’ve discovered that financially successful people master what I call the Two Money Tracks: Money Mindset and Money Methods.
TRACK 1: Money Mindset
Your Money Mindset is the beliefs and baggage from your past that influence how you feel, think about, and approach money.
It has a huge impact on your actions and results.
Our children absorb our beliefs about money. They are also influenced by the beliefs of their peers and mentors.
TRACK 2: Money Methods
Your Money Methods are all about the “how” – how you make money, how you manage it, and how you invest it.
The key to achieving financial security is to ensure that both Money Tracks are strong and working well together.
For that to happen, you need clarity on your core values, meaningful goals, an income-generating plan, a values-based management system, a research-based investing approach, and a healthy, ongoing mindset practice.
If one of the tracks isn’t working well, you will not achieve the results you want. It’s that simple.
The Money-Smart Students Pilot Program is designed to help the students create a healthy mindset while learning how to make, manage, and invest money. In other words, they will create a fully integrated financial system.
🛑 The Challenge of Teaching This Yourself
- You’re the parent. You don’t know anything, remember? At least that’s what our teens think and/or tell us – repeatedly! It’s difficult to be parent and teacher.
- Finding the time to teach the material is hard. You’re already juggling fifteen balls at once. When is financial training supposed to happen?
- How do you know what to teach beyond the obvious? “Don’t get into unnecessary debt (whatever that means); save money; don’t waste money” – all good advice, but how is your kid supposed to do that? What does that mean?
- How do you pull together all that information into a system that makes sense and works? Which bits matter?
- What if you were never taught to make, manage, and invest money? What then? How are you supposed to teach what you never learned?
- What if you have limiting beliefs about money? How do you talk to your teen or early 20-something without passing on your “money stories”?
- Have I mentioned that your kid may not want to learn from you? I get it. The only reason my older teen is listening is because my husband and I made financial literacy training part of the conditions of her receiving money from us to help pay for university. 😀
If you’re planning to contribute to your child’s higher education, then you want to ensure that they don’t waste that money – the dollars you worked so hard to earn.
You also want to ensure that they don’t end up in corrosive debt (another concept I teach) when they get their hands on their first credit card, coupled with the freedom of being away from Mom & Dad.
This is a chance to start them off on the right financial foot.
❇️ Program Schedule
CO-ED GROUP DATES (Open to all students 16-22 years old)
October 2nd, 9th, and 23rd – three sessions of live online learning
- 1 pm – 3 pm EDT each day (10 am – 12 pm in Vancouver; 2 pm – 4 pm in Halifax)
- Live online via Zoom
- Financial Tune Up on November 20th, 2-3 pm Eastern (must complete Feedback Form to access this)
- Canadian-based recommendations taught by a Canadian 🇨🇦
I will teach the material over the course of three sessions, followed by a Financial Tune Up (live online Q&A session) one month later to ensure the students are on track and make recommendations if they’re experiencing challenges.
To access the Financial Tune Up, students will be required to complete a Feedback Form – a short survey to pass on their thoughts about the course.
Please note that for all my work, I create a safe, no shame, no blame, no judgement environment in which to learn. All participants will be encouraged to ask any question they like without the fear of being judged.
"I wasted so much of my parents' money at uni through poor money management practices ... I'm sure my parents would have jumped on a course like yours!"
🧠 Program Content - What We'll Cover
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The Four Competence Quadrants in personal finance: KNOW, MAKE, MANAGE, GROW
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The purpose of money
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Create Your Money Map – a visual representation of cash flow
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Identify Core Values and Create Values-based Goal – best options
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- How to use core values to guide financial decisions
- How to make the best use of your money
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The accounts you’ll need – which to use and why
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- Chequing
- Savings
- Investing
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Debit cards – How they work and the best options for students
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Credit cards – what they are, how they work, and how to use them wisely
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- Simple vs compound interest
- Are points cards worth it?
- Which card is best for students?
- Is it worth paying a fee for a card?
- Credit reports & scores: what they are and how credit cards affect them
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Debt – Understanding helpful debt vs unhelpful debt and how to deal with it
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Creating a Spending Plan
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- Responsibility and accountability
- Strategies to optimize your money through automation
- How much to save
- Building in fun money
- Avoiding debt where possible and why
- Creating your Money Rules
- Maintaining your system
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Tracking your money – best tools and practices
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Introduction to evidence-based investing
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- Why it’s important to start investing asap
- Simple strategies to use right away with small amounts
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Marketable Skills & Making money – maximizing the use of your time and efforts
Enroll your child in the Money-Smart Students Pilot Program 🎯
What's Included:
🔑 Six hours of Live Online Training over three sessions
👋 Q&A sessions during the training
📝 Worksheets and Checklists
▶️ Tools and recommendations
📚 Recommended Reading list
🧬 Co-Ed cohort open to all
🇨🇦 Canadian examples and recommendations
😊 All teaching done live by me. (Adults don’t get live-by-me training anymore unless they’re at a workplace workshop or they’re a member of my Women’s Money Group!)
💰 Beta pricing for this year only. My intention is to launch the 1.0 version in 2022 for $300. This is the only time this course will be offered at this beta price.
Please note that the pricing is per person.
To ensure the safety of the group, I require that all participants enable their video so that I can see their face.
"My daughters are going to have completely different (and more incredible) lives because I’ve connected with you! I feel like I need to make you a casserole! 😂!"
🔎 About Me
Hi, my name is Doris Belland. I’ve spent the last fifteen years helping thousands of people transform their lives by taking control of their finances, building their confidence, and creating great options for themselves.
I’m a former academic and researcher turned financial literacy educator.
I was widowed when I was 32 and left with $400,000 of inherited debt. I paid it off in two years and have since built a 7-figure portfolio in real estate as well as a 7-figure portfolio in the stock market.
I spent ten years working as a Financial Repair Specialist, which led me to create my proven values-based money system.
Today, I focus exclusively on financial education and coaching to help give people the power of choice. With this program, I teach students to use money in their highest, best interests. I don’t just want to give my kids a huge head start; I want that for all kids.
"This program made me change the way that I view money because before I viewed money with a lot of emotion and sometimes if I spent money on something that I thought was important I would feel guilty about it. Now I feel that I can spend money on the things that I value and not feel guilty about it because I know that it’s something important to me."
✅ Who is This Course For?
⇒ Students who want to avoid making poor choices with their money – or their parents’ money.
⇒ Students who want to learn to manage money well and still have a life.
⇒ Students who are concerned about debt and who want to learn how to avoid it, where possible.
⇒ Students who don’t want a complicated system. They’ll be too busy with their studies to stress out about money.
⇒ Students who want to be THAT person who makes smart financial decisions.
⇒ Students who want to get out of university in good financial shape.
⇒ Students who want to learn how to build an impressive nest egg with a tiny amount invested every month.
⇒ Parents who want to ensure they get the best value for the dollars they contribute toward their child’s education.
⇒ Parents who want to ensure their kids don’t go crazy and dig themselves into a hole – pizza and beer!! – after they leave home.
⇒ Parents who don’t want their kids to feel anxious about money, but who nonetheless want them to be aware of their financial choices.
⇒ Parents who want their kids to build their savings muscle early to benefit for a lifetime.
⇒ Parents who want to give their kids the financial education and its advantages that they didn’t have as a teen.
⇒ Canadians who want Canadian-based information and training. 🇨🇦
It all starts with the fundamentals and a sustainable system built around your student’s values.
I will show your child how to set themselves up for a life of financial security in which money serves them well.
"I never really believed I would be comfortable talking about money and taking pleasure managing it, yet here I am. Something has changed in me - thank you!"
⚠️ Who is This Course Not For?
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- Students who are not willing to enable their video during the program. I get that some kids are uncomfortable showing their face during group sessions, but to ensure the safety of the group, it is a requirement that I see all participants’ faces. If your student isn’t willing to do this, this course isn’t for them.
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- Helicopter parents. If you’re thinking that you’d like to sit in on the program with your child, this isn’t the program for you. I’ve taught enough kids to know that when the parent is present, kids will monitor what they say, if they speak up at all. Every other teen taking the program will clam up in the presence of someone’s parent. That’s counter-productive. I’m here to teach financial literacy to your 16-to-20-year-old. To give them the best shot at learning this material and becoming money-smart students, they need to do this on their own. You can certainly chat with them about everything they’ve learned after the sessions and look at the materials I provide, but during the sessions, they need a private space and the freedom to ask questions.
"I absolutely loved your course! It has really helped me understand that money is simply a tool.
Handling my finances is suddenly much less scary and much more exciting than it was a week ago! The money map we created has shifted my thinking in the sense that I now know to save and invest before I spend my income.
Your course also changed my mindset regarding how I spend my money; it's important to have "fun money" set aside, and I should always make sure that my purchases align with my values, regardless of what other people say. From now on, I will approach money as a tool that can work for me and bring me closer to my goals."
⏲️ Last Call
PARENTS: Would you like to deepen your financial knowledge or skills? Or take your finances to the next level?
I offer an in-depth course for adults called, Take Charge of Your Money Course – Your Values-Based Roadmap to Live Debt-Free, Grow Your Savings, and Create Great Options for Your Future.
😍
Hop onto my mailing list to get notified when I open up registration once again.
In the meantime, you’ll receive my weekly YFL (Your Financial Launchpad) Money Tips. You can opt out any time.