KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share
—
Just like the popular TV series ‘Shark Tank’, high schoolers in Kansas City put their financial education to the test Thursday at Central Bank of KC’s Shark Tank Youth Competition at the Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City.
A Bank of America survey found over half of the Gen Zers it surveyed report they don't make enough money to live the life they want; half of them said they’re not on track to buy a home, and almost half said they’re missing the mark to start saving for retirement and investing in the next five years, too.
These skills are top of mind for students like Raytown South High School junior Djenabou Diallo.
“To kind of try to make it as realistic as possible so that we can kind of see what it would look like in the real world, and it's sort of like budgeting,” Diallo said.
Through the lens of hosting FIFA World Cup matches in Kansas City, these students had to use budgeting, cost analyses and more to solve various food, business, travel, and fan-related scenarios. There were 11 schools that participated.
Central Bank of KC's Sarah Cousineau started this competition ten years ago because she saw the need.
“When I first bought a house, I was only 21 and I really had no idea of what I was doing,” Cousineau said. “If you don't have the tools to know how to look at something, how to look at different loans and what might fit in with your budget, it can really affect your whole future.”
Although the winners got a cash prize, Cousineau hopes some of these ideas reach the halls of World Cup organizers in Kansas City, too.
