California Jump$tart

May 1, 2009 - (by Robin Sidel, Wall Street Journal) - Brad Sagara uses a debit card to buy everything from groceries to climbing gear to bottled water. He barely uses his two credit cards anymore, and is trying to pay off a combined balance of $4,000."The painful realization is that I need to be an adult, and this is a time to save," said Mr. Sagara, a 26-year-old consulting-firm analyst who lives in Tucson, Ariz.

The urge to not splurge by thrift-conscious consumers is giving the debit-card revolution a new push. On Wednesday, Visa Inc. reported that the total dollar volume of purchases made using its branded debit cards surpassed credit-card purchases for the first time during the last three months of 2008. The $206 billion in U.S. debit-card transactions processed by Visa were 50.4% of the San Francisco company's total transaction volume in the period, up from about 40% in 2003."The reality is that the vast majority of consumers want to pay as they go," said Stacey Pinkerd, who oversees Visa's debit-card business. Visa's net income leapt 71% to $536 million, or 71 cents a share, in the fiscal second quarter ended March 31, from $314 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier.

At our Member Meeting in San Diego on April 23rd we recognized two teachers with our Educator Awards and a community leader for his work in furthering financial education. Chuck Currier from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach and Martin Santiago from Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg received recognition awards for their work in bringing personal financial education into their classrooms. With the awards, they received $2,500 for their school's financial education programs from Citi.

The Leadership Award went to John Liotti, founder of Northern California Urban Development and its Youth Initiative for financial literacy training; and a leader in founding Community Trust Credit Union of East Palo Alto.
Congratulations to the three Award Winners!!

April 26, 2009 - (by Claudia Buck, The Sacramento Bee) - For the 20 or so high school seniors in Matthew Pesci's class at Laguna Creek High School, Wednesday's lecture was real life.  

The kind with dollars and cents attached: How to avoid overdraft fees. How to keep from bouncing checks. How to maintain a savings account. How to stay out of debt.  The college-bound seniors even practiced writing a check – of $1.

The money talk, by two Tri Counties Bank managers in Elk Grove, is one of thousands being delivered by bankers to K-12 students nationwide. It's part of an American Bankers Association effort to reach 1 million students in April, which is Financial Literacy Month.

The Federal Trade Commission just launched a new website – www.ftc.gov/MoneyMatters -- for people dealing with debt; struggling to find a job; or trying to create a budget, save, and spend wisely during these difficult times.  Money Matters offers short, practical tips, videos, and links to reliable resources for more information on topics like credit repair, debt collection, job-hunting and jobs scams, vehicle repossession, managing mortgage payments, and foreclosure rescue scams. The site contains banners/buttons for easy linking, too. To learn more, go to www.ftc.gov/MoneyMatters.  If you have questions, please contact Colleen Tressler at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 202-326-2368.

The Council for Economic Education (The Council) is soliciting applications from qualified organizations seeking to promote economic and financial literacy among students in kindergarten through grade 12. In 2004, the United States Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement designated the Council as the sole agency to implement the Excellence in Economic Education (EEE) Program. Now in its sixth year, the Council is pleased to announce a new opportunity to apply for funding for projects during 2009-2010. The application deadline is June 2, 2009. 

ONLINE APPLICATION
Please go to http://www.councilforeconed.org/eee/ for general information on the Excellence in Economic Education Program RFPs for each of the sub-grants, and information about applying online.

Junior Achievement of Southern California : As JA Finance Park is into its second year of operation, we are excited to report that over 8,000 students are expected to visit the facility this year!  The need for financial literacy education is clear, now more than ever, and teachers across Southern California are heeding the call as they deliver the in-class JA Finance Park curriculum. Your participation is needed during the culminating experience at JA Finance Park.  We are looking for both individuals and company volunteer groups.  As a volunteer, you will work with a small group of students as they become "adults for the day"and experience the realities of creating and maintaining a personal monthly budget. To volunteer register: https://secure.imodules.com/s/1019/index.aspx?sid=1019&pgid=589&cid=1174&gid=1&