The Orchards Family Success Center held a financial literacy workshop with Melody Baysmore on July 20.
A small group of residents gathered in the community center’s workshop room, where they sat around a table as Baysmore – a financial coach – handed out financial literacy quizzes and discussed plans already developed by attendees.
The financial literacy quiz consisted of 17 questions and was produced by United Wealth Education (UWE).
The workshop helped residents learn how to practice smart spending, reduce financial stress and insecurity, promote financial independence and avoid the pitfalls of debt. Throughout the workshop, attendees asked questions and shared personal stories about financial planning and teaching their children about money management.
A former hairstylist, Baysmore shared her personal experiences with money management and the path that led to her career change. She advised residents to set their children up for financial success by creating a financial plan for them as soon as they are born.
“The rule of step B2 is that if you put your money in some type of high-yield account,” Baysmore explained. “In six years, that money can double. So when a child is young, if you start early, they have about three cycles to actually double their money three times.”
“And then when they turn 18, that money has doubled,” she added.
Baysmore warned against allowing frivolous spending at a young age and emphasized the importance of saving for a “rainy day.” She also pointed out that providing too much financial assistance to children can be counterproductive.
“I think also somewhere in our lifetime, our parents – they’ve been through so much,” Baysmore observed. “They wanted to give us more. So my children and I are trying to break that curse because I think I gave them too much.”
“I came from a household where you wanted to get your driver’s license at 16,” she added, “and you wanted to get your own place six months after you graduated high school and go to college. You had a goal. You wanted to be an adult.”
“I feel like the new generation is content with getting help from adults.”
But Baysmore did recommend that parents aid their child’s transition into adulthood to avoid what she considers a generational cycle of co-dependence.
“We got to stop being scared of it,” she maintained, “and work toward it.”
