Discover the program that's changing financial education forever. How A Fun & Amazingly Simple Financial Education Game Teaches Kids How Save And Invest (And Stay Out Of Debt) Wisely. Dear Teacher or Youth Group Leader, If you're looking for a unique, effective, activity-based, information-rich, imagination-igniting financial education program for your students (ages 10 and up), you're in the right place. Imagine for a moment that the world of money was simply a game and to win the game, you simply had to learn...and use...the rules to that game. Well, guess what? If you learn the simple, time-tested financial tools and habits that financially free people use to get, and stay, financially free...YOU can win The Money Game and be financially free, too. And now...with the introduction of The Money Game® you can teach kids and adults about money in a way that is relevant, effective and way too much fun for everyone involved. Help Us Solve The Problem Of Financial Iliteracy My name is Elisabeth Donati and I've been putting on summer money camps called Camp Millionaire since 2002. I developed this program after realizing in my 30's that the only reason I didn't understand money was because no one taught me about money! I realized before I started the camp that for it to be effective and for kids to really get and remember the information, I needed to create a truly remarkable way to teach kids how money worked. Camp Millionaire® and The Money Game® are the answer. I don't have to tell you that we have a HUGE financial ILLITERACY problem in America that must be solved. The signs are all around us... Adults are in debt up to their eyeballs because THEY don't understand how to save and invest for the future. Governments are laying off employees, cutting hours and raising taxes trying to make up for 'the down economy' because most of the adults who run them don't understand money and finances either. Our federal government makes it all but impossible to teach kids the life-skills they need to be successful because all of the teaching mandates (and testing) of subjects we barely remember as adults. Parents think schools should teach kids about money; schools think it's the parent's responsibility. Bottom line, it's rarely taught in school OR at home. When states make financial literacy mandatory, rarely are there funds to teach it and what IS taught is often boring and inadequate. Many teachers are uncomfortable teaching a subject they don't understand and aren't actively practicing. Most of the teachers who ARE committed to teaching their students about money are using dull and boring curriculums and rarely cover the financial lessons we most need...like investing! The governments keep talking about job. It's not JOBS that set people free...it's teaching kids entrepreneurship and showing them how to be the CEOs of their own lives. My Passion And Purpose I had three painful realizations in my mid-30's. First, I realized that I knew almost nothing about managing and investing my money. Second, I realized I was going to have to teach myself if was going to ever learn how. Third, I realized I was not alone. Everyone I talked to seemed to be in the same boat. Well, once I become aware of how little we are all taught about money, I just had to do something about it. And I started noticing that people everywhere were talking about money...in the store, at the gas station, at parties, IN A BATHROOM STALL on the cell phone. I was shocked. People were lost in the world of money with no roadmap of how to get home, score a run or win the game. It was about this time that a retired business attorney, named Walt, inspired something deep inside my soul by writing a letter to the editor in our local Santa Barbara newspaper. In his letter, Walt asked a simple question: "When, as a nation, are we going to start teaching our children about money?" I stopped dead in my tracks. Something struck me deeply and I knew I had to do something about it. A couple of hours later, I said to my fellow employees, "Why doesn't someone create a summer money camp for kids where they learn what none of us are taught in school?" "Just wanted to say we had HEAPS of FUN playing The Money Game!" "Just wanted to say we had HEAPS of FUN playing The Money Game. It was my first time and it was great. The kids loved every second of it. NOW I am just trying to find a way that I can do this FULL TIME so that EVERY kid in my city at least will have experienced The Money Game. Anita from New Zealand The rest is history. I held the first The Money Camp for Kids in 2002 with 39 kids and the rest is history! We changed the name to Camp Millionaire in 2006, started offing our life- changing 5-day Train-the-Trainer workshops in 2004 and we now we receive calls every day from people around the globe who want to learn how to do what we're doing. At the end of our first Money Camp for Kids, all of the parents were thrilled and the kids had learned financial lesson they could begin to practice immediately and I satisfied beyond measure. Who knew that my simple idea to create a financial literacy camp would eventually give birth to a financial education revolution. But there was one more step I haven't shared yet... In 2006, we started creating the game that is now the foundation of every program we teach. It became SO effective in teaching our participants the financial principles we wanted the kids and teens to learn, we wrapped our entire program into one big game... Games Are The Best Way To Learn And The Easiest Way To Teach The first thing I did in 2000 was order all of the financial literacy curriculums I could get my hands on. I found them boring and irrelavent. But more of all... ...the existing financial literacy curriculums didn't teach the information I wished I HAD LEARNED when I was young! Things like... The basic financial principles financially free people learn and use regularly...like Pay Yourself First, Put Money to Work For You and 24 others! Not making money mean more than it is...a tool to reach our dreams, and help other people reach theirs. How to shake hands properly and why doing it correctly is important to your financial life. Why keeping agreements is critical in both our business and personal lives. How to set, and reach, short-term and long-term goals. How to THINK about money, abundance and wealth in ways that support your goals. How much money we waste on something I later named Piddlyjunk. Why and how to create passive income streams so you can eventually work because you want to, not because you have to. And why giving back and doing good with some of your money is so important to having enough of it in the first place. (It has to do with an abundance mentality.) I also wanted... To invite kids to think differently about money and wealth so they could create the fantastic lives they drea. This is one of our most important Creative Wealth Principles... To teach kids to question why they were making the financial decisions they were making...not just to do things because others were doing them. To teach kids to replace, "I have to get a job" with "I wonder what business I can start, or service I can provide? I wanted them to think about how to make the world a better place while making a living at the same time. Kids to know that financial freedom was their responsibility so they wouldn't grow up dependent on parents or 'the system'. Kids to know that financial freedom starts by making a choice to BE financially free. "Empower Others To Be Responsible For Themselves...And The World." You see...I love empowering people to be responsible for themselves...instead of being dependent on someone else...or blaming someone else for where they ended up in life. I wanted kids to know that where they end up in life is a result of all the choices they make. But our camps aren't great simply because of WHAT we teach...they are effective at getting the information we teach to stick because of HOW we teach. Camp Millionaire™ and The Money Game® use a very active style of teaching called accelerated learning. In simple terms, we teach visually, auditorily and kinesthetically. Participants do more than listen to the lessons...they act the lessons out. We role-play, have contests, play games that teach financial lessons. We tell stories and use lots of music. We give the kids moolah for great questions and answers, for participating and more. We just have a whole lot of fun learning what may be the most important lessons in life. The kids experience how money works in real life. They repeat important phrases and remember easily (and they never take a single note!). The Money Game† is action-packed from start to finish. And you want to know the most common thing we hear after kids attend our program? "It Was Way More Fun Than I Thought It Was Going To Be!" MONEY HABIT #1: When participants get their Paycheck they learn to Pay Themselves First BEFORE paying their expenses! The best part about the way we teach our programs is that we CELEBRATE everything! Just imagine how school might have been different for you had your teachers celebrated when you did something well! Click here if you're ready to order your copy of The Money Game now! The Key Was Creating A Financial Education Game Where The Kids Are The Pieces In the beginning, people kept telling me to build a board game. But there were already great financial board games out there...Monopoly, Cash Flow for Kids, Money and a few more. Instead, I kept thinking...What if I created a game where the KIDS ARE THE PIECES? That's when The Money Game started to evolve. We crated bags where the participants paid their expenses...then let them invest in assets with the money they saved by Paying Themselves First. Their favorite part when when we started giving them Passive Income for every asset they invested in. At this point, we knew we had a winner. We started creating the money lessons AROUND the game instead of the game simply being part of the camp. The kids loved it. The ADULTS who attended our adult programs loved it. So in The Money Game, the students are the pieces. They move around the whole room (aka...the board) using their income as they would in real life. The lessons are so real that YOU CAN'T NOT GET IT. Now, everyone who attends our Train-the-Trainer program saying to themselves, "What I would give to have been able to attend a program like this when I was young." A Profoundly Life-Altering Experience For Adults In One Of Those Slap Your Forehead"Ah-Ha" Sort Of Ways! This game doesn't just work with children and teens. It's a PROFOUND experience for adults. Here's why... When you teach a child about money for the first time, you're installing a new program on an empty hard-drive, so to speak. Kids say, "Oh, I see. Cool." Adults, however, not only learn the basic financial information they didn't learn as kids, but realize they missed something huge... "If only I had known this years ago!" "Why didn't anyone teach me this stuff?" "I can't believe I never learned the power of Pay Yourself First!" "Why didn't anyone explain WHY I should start saving and investing?" Adults have emotional responses to the lessons they learn playing The Money Game. And even though the numbers in the game are conceptual...heck, rent is only $300...the lessons are ife-altering for adults who never learned about money and investing for their futures. Sound Financial Principles Lead To Financial Freedom The simple financial principles and habits that The Money Game® teaches are the same time-tested financial principles and habits that most wealthy people use to get wealthy and stay wealthy, and that most of us didn't learn when we were young. Financial principles like... Here's Why Teachers And Parents Are Raving About The Money Game It's experiential...even kids 'labeled' with learning disabilities learn from this highly active financial game. It can be used as a traditional school programs, home school curriculum, day camps, after school programs, church youth groups events, youth leadership events, nonprofit youth organizations, homeless shelters with families, foster care youth. It changes your expectations of a great financial literacy education program forever. It includes 5 simple accelerated teaching techniques that improve the way your students learn, no matter how young or old they are. The game is effective and easy to tailor for age groups from 10 years old to adult. The Money Game can be modified to fit any length program...from 3 hours to several days. It can be presented in numerous formats (1 hour a day for many weeks, once a week for any number of weeks, every day for an hour for a week, etc.). It can be used as a stand-alone financial education program or used under an existing education umbrella. It teaches the financial principles wealthy families teach their children when they want to make sure they know how to be good stewards of their inheritances. It explains how to quickly and effectually teach a room of students (young and old) basic money principles they must know to be financially successful. It can be used in an employer sponsored financial education program for employees (Note: Don't want to teach it yourself? Hire one of our Creative Wealth Coaches to come in and do it for you.) People call this 'the best' financial literacy program because our participants don't take notes. They learn with their whole bodies and the lessons they learn about money and investing last forever. The only financial literacy game program that can be modified easily... Easy to alter for any culture or age group. Easy to expand by adding additional financial lessons activities you may already have and enjoy teaching. Testimonials To The Money Game's Powerful Ability To Teach People Of All Ages About Money And Investing Here's what teachers, our trainers, parents and our attendees have said about playing The Money Game... Teachers Love The Money Game and The Accelerated Learning Techniques: "The Money Game made teaching financial literacy easy!" "Have you ever seen excitement on a child's face when they are grasping a concept or showing such confidence that they are willing to take endless risks in their learning? Well, I am a fifth grade teacher and have been using The Money Game and my new Accelerated Learning skills for three months in my classroom and see this reaction daily from my students. The energy in my room has gone through the roof! The students have told me that they just remember more than before. Accelerated learning has changed my practice forever! Thank you. Jodi Lemieux, Creative Wealth Coach 5th grade teacher in CT Note: Our Train-the-Trainer program is as much about HOW we teach as it is WHAT we teach (The Money Game and curriculum). When professional teachers attend our training, they are positively flabbergasted to take home these new teaching skills...skills that every one of them has reported back as helping them become awesome teachers! "My students are having so much fun learning about money!" "I've been using The Money Game in my high school classrooms and the kids have such a great time. The things they learn from playing The Money Game are the things I wish I had learned as a young girl. It's so frustrating to see the rest of our high school students NOT getting this critical information when it's so easy to play this game with them. I wish I could teach them all!" Lola Paredes, Creative Wealth Coach High School Teachers, Santa Barbara, CA "I can now see the path and steps I can take to financial freedom!" " I never cared about money before and now I want financial freedom! I owe it to my children to be financially free. This has been an intense, life changing experience!" Tasha Orshoff, Creative Wealth Coach Stay-at-home Mom and Elementary Teacher Sub "My students are having so much fun learning about money!" "The accelerated learning process taught with The Money Game is phenomenal. The entire experience was built on a standard of excellence. I am impressed with the quality of everything. I am extremely well-read in the topics of business, life, psychology, philosophy, and economics and I learned many things I had not previously known from the Train-the- Trainer workshop." Ken Parsell, Creative Wealth Coach, Teacher in PA "This was an eye opening experience!" "Not only did I learn a simple approach to money and creating wealth but I learned many new techniques to use in the classroom. I had a great time and met many interesting people." Patricia Katz, Creative Wealth Coach, Teacher Our Creative Wealth Coaches Love The Money Game: "I couldn't teach our adults the importance of saving and investing without The Money Game." "I've been using The Money Game with adults for over four years and I never cease to be amazed at how quickly and easily it gets essential financial lessons across to adults who simply never learned about money." Celia Hahoe, Creative Wealth Coach, Virginia Tech Facility "We moved, we laughed, we learned and we did NOT take notes!" "Hands down, one of the most comprehensive, thorough, and unique training programs I have ever participated in. We were always active, always learning, and always growing. Specifically, I appreciated the accelerated learning techniques which Elisabeth uses because it allows us to learn more material in the time scheduled. Yes, the days were long, but they were fun, interesting, and worthwhile. I didn’t want them to end!" Naomi Schacter, PA State Creative Wealth Licensee "Who knew a GAME could teach people about money!" "When I attended Creative Wealth Train-the-Trainer I had no idea that a financial education game could teach so many powerful financial lessons and habits...especially to many of the adults at the training! The Money Game is by far the only way I would ever approach teaching kids and adults the basic financial principles and habits they must know to get their personal finances in order. I use most of these principles in my own life and was delighted to see how thorough the program and game are when it comes to the subject of money." David Henseler "Children learn the most profound financial lessons with The Money Game" "One of my most compelling moments was when one girl read the principle, "Being broke is temporary, being poor is a state of mind.". The kids grew still and the expressions on their faces were amazing. I could see them realize that there was hope for a change of conditions. We repeated it together and talked about it a bit. Awesome moment. What I