High school seniors in Blaine County will get a reality check on adulting in an interactive, hands-on financial literacy program on Thursday, Nov. 17 offered by the Blaine County Community Health Action Team (BCCHAT). Reality Check, an educational program through OSU Extension, will be a part of the “Senior Symposium” that BCCHAT will be holding at the Blaine County Fairgrounds.
Reality Check helps teens understand fiscal responsibility by providing real-life scenarios in which they make financial decisions on matters regarding monthly recurring expenses.
Reality Check gives the students a space in life with a set salary, and they must establish a budget based on their assigned income. They have to consider expenses, such as housing, food, utilities, transportation, insurance, etc. Along with those general expenses, there is also a category called chance, which represents those times when you get sick and go to the hospital, have an unexpected home repair, or perhaps get an unexpected bonus at work. It is all about living within your means.
Reality Check helps kids understand the value of a dollar and budgeting while developing necessary tools to understand what it is like to be a financially responsible adult.
The goals of Reality Check are to give students a glimpse of their future in a fun way, help teens become aware of basic financial planning skills, goal setting, decision making and career planning, and clarify the need for young people to examine their attitudes about their futures and career expectations.
Participants are given a worksheet indicating an occupation and a lifestyle status a 25-year-old person may experience. They are assigned a job, such as a mechanic, banker, or teacher, along with a salary and corresponding payroll deductions. They may be single, living with a roommate, married, have a stay-athome spouse or X number of children. These are all possible situations they will face in a few years.
Participants start at the bank booth to create a bank account and decide if they want to open a savings account. They visit approximately 20 other booths to complete a monthly budget. Depending on how much money they have, the students may need to adjust their housing or car expenditures in order to meet their budget.
While $35,000 sounds like a lot of money to many teenagers, once they start paying their bills, they learn quickly they cannot afford that fancy sports car or eating out five times a week. They may also discover they are going to have to choose a less expensive housing option.
In order for the Reality Check program to be successful, it takes 25-30 volunteers to cover the different booths. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me at 580-623-5195. Volunteers are needed from 12:00 to 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 17.