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Newsletter: May, 2011
The Vault, May 2011: Who cares about shares? Most people put at least some of their retirement savings in stocks, and some folks make careers out of trading shares. The stock market is riskier than some kinds of investments, but returns can be greater, as well–especially over the long term. Where can a Biz Kid make sense of it all? Right here in The Vault!
Disclaimer
We have to say it: we’re not giving you advice about whether or how to invest your money—you should go to a licensed professional for that! Share it! Share The Vault with a friend! Click on the handy icons in the upper right to email it or share it on Facebook. Video of the MonthMeet Jeff, who started painting and investing at a young age. He talks about finding a mentor and his approach to investing, and gives some sage advice about investing for young people:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVmg99md4U0 Ring around the money Every day, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is opened and closed by the official ringing of a real bell. Former big bell ringers include Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, and Mr. Potato Head, just to name a few. Oh, and they do let real people do it too—like the Biz Kid$ crew did in April!
What is stock, and what is the stock market? Companies need to raise money (called “capital”) to hire people, buy equipment, and so on. They can get a loan from a bank, or they can issue stock (also called “shares”). When you buy stock in a company, you own a piece of that company. That makes you a “shareholder.” A stock market is where stocks are bought and sold. Although stock markets started as physical places where people bought and sold stock certificates, practically all trading today is electronic. There are markets all over the world—from Spain to Tokyo—and you can trade in almost any of them. The NYSE is the largest by far, valued at over $15 trillion. What sets a stock price?  Stock prices are based on supply and demand. If lots of people want a stock because a company is growing, the price will go up. If a company is struggling, lots of people will try to sell their stock, and the price will go down. You only make or lose money when you actually sell a stock that you own, unless a company goes out of business, in which case your shares are worth nothing!
Risk and reward Stocks can provide a better return than less risky investments like bonds, but you can also lose money. The value of stocks is tied to lots of unpredictable things you can’t control such as the economy, politics, world events, and even the environment. It pays to do your research and keep a cool head. Have a strategyPeople have different approaches to stock trading. Some people buy and sell stocks daily hoping to make a quick profit. Others “buy and hold” stocks that are likely to grow over the long term and ignore day-to-day ups and downs. One of the world’s most successful investors, Warren Buffett, says he only buys stock in companies that he understands. That’s good advice for a beginning investor!Dividends Some stocks pay dividends. Dividends are a share of the company’s profits paid to shareholders. If a company pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and you have 100 shares, you’d get $100. Companies have to be profitable to pay dividends, so they are usually older, more stable companies—which can be good for long-term investing.
Diversify! Ever heard the phrase, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket?” The same thing is true with investing. If you invest all your money in candy companies and the price of sugar goes through the roof, you’re in trouble. To “diversify” means to invest in lots of different companies and industries to spread out your risk. You can instantly diversify by investing in mutual funds or index funds, which collect many stocks together in one fund. Just make sure you know how much the investment company is charging you to manage the fund. Learn from experience You can try investing using real stock market data without actually risking real dollars with We Seed:http://www.weseed.com/markets/love/kids. Or, have your parents open an investment account for you. ShareBuilder (http://www.sharebuilder.com) is designed for beginning investors.

Biz Kid$ to ring NYSE closing bell on Monday, April 11

Biz Kid$ has the honor of ringing the NYSE closing bell to help celebrate financial literacy week.  The day will include an online interview with Tracy Byrnes of Fox Business News, a teacher training event, and the bell-ringing ceremony with entrepreneurs from past episodes.  For a live stream of the bell-ringing event check back at 3:59 pm on Monday, April 11:

http://www.nyse.com/events/1302258167806.html

Check out these 30 steps to Financial Wellness

April is the official National Financial Literacy Month; however the experts at Money Management International know that regardless of the day or month of the year you begin, the 30 step path will help you achieve financial wellness. Take the first step today!

http://financialliteracymonth.com/Default.aspx

Newsletter: April, 2011
The Vault April 2011: Taxes! (dum dum duuuuummmmmm) In this issue we’ll cover everything you never knew you wanted to know about taxes. Lots of people have strong feels about taxes and whether or not it’s right to levy them at all. Rather than debate the principles of taxation, we’ll check out the basics of the current system in the U.S. like what taxes are, who pays them, who collects them, and what happens when you don’t pay up. Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.   – Franklin D. Roosevelt Remember: Sharing is caring!We know you love The Vault, so don’t be stingy! Share it with a friend (or two or three).Share it on Facebook using the buttons at the upper right, or just forward it. Video of the month Check our this video of a skateboarder who keeps good records so that he can hand off all the info to his accountant at tax time: http://bit.ly/fsiKYu.
Famous tax dodgers Nobody really loves paying taxes, but it’s hard to feel sorry for people who make big bucks and won’t cough up! Nicolas Cage has had serious tax trouble for years. Despite making more than$10 million per movie, he didn’t pay his taxes and ended up owing the IRS $14 million. He sued his manager, fought the IRS in court, and had to sell a couple of his houses, but now he says he’ll pay. See the story here: http://bit.ly/3N1cOR Wesley Snipes wasn’t so lucky. He was involved with a group of people who don’t believe that the government should charge taxes and didn’t bother to file tax returns. The IRS wasn’t very happy about that. He ended up owning $17 million and just started a three year stay in the slammer. Here’s the link:http://bit.ly/fubmJj
What are taxes? A tax is money you have to pay to the government (local, state, or federal). Both individuals and businesses pay taxes. Anything of value can be taxed: what you earn (income taxes), what you buy (sales taxes), or what you own (property taxes).There are even taxes on things like how much air pollution a company creates. Who collects taxes? Many levels of government collect taxes—city, county, state, or federal. Federal income taxes are collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To pay federal income taxes, you calculate how much you owe and send it in with a form called a ‘tax return’, which is due every year around April 15th . Individual states also charge income taxes, sales taxes, or both. Sales taxes are paid right when you buy something.
Where does all that tax money go? Tax money pays for government-provided services like education, roads, hospitals, the military, and Social Security, and to cover the costs of running the government. Check out this cool interactive tool to learn more about where your federal tax dollars are spent: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget. Click on the “Explore the Budget” button.
Who pays taxes?  If you work for someone else, they keep money from your paycheck to pay part of your taxes and your employer pays the rest. At tax time, if your tax situation is simple, you can file a form called 1040EZ (as in “easy”). If you’re self-employed, you have to estimate how much tax you owe and pay it every quarter (every three months). Most self-employed people file a 1040 “Schedule C”.   If you don’t pay enough during the year, you’ll have to pay more at tax time.
If you pay too much, you’ll get a refund (whoo-hoo!). Generally speaking, if you are a dependent of your parents, you don’t have to pay taxes on the first $5,700 of your income. For the full rules, visit:http://www.irs.gov/publications/p929/index.html. What is an audit? To keep people honest, the IRS follows up on millions of tax returns every year. They make sure you did the math right and that you reported all your income. That’s called an “audit.” People who make more money or are self-employed are more likely to be audited. It’s important to accurately report your income and keep good records of your deductions in case you are audited. What happens if you don’t pay income tax? If you don’t pay taxes, you’ll definitely get audited, and you’ll have to pay back taxes plus fines. If you refuse to pay, you can even go to jail like Wesley Snipes. So pay your taxes!

BK Host Austin as the ‘Toothfairy’

A slightly different spin on the traditional Toothfairy:

A young man smiling in a gray hoodie.

Bizkids $$ Money $$

As an actor on the show, not only am I being paid but I’m also learning what to do with the money I make.  Back in first season when I received my first check, I deposited it directly into savings.  From that point on, the mass majority of my checks went into savings.  Since I was still living at home I didn’t have many expenses. So the only money that I would need to take out of my checks would be for gas and personal stuff, like going out with friends. Remember Biz Kid$, the more you save today, the more you have

tomorrow.  Pretty simple huh?

Start a fundraiser to help the relief effort in Japan

Hey Biz Kid$…..it’s not hard to do a fundraiser for the Japanese earthquake / tsunami victims.

 

Lemons-to-Aid is an organization devoted to kids helping others. It features kids from all across the US starting their own lemonade stands to raise money for people in countries who have been affected by natural disasters. It doesn’t have to be a lemonade stand – they also encourage other creative programs such as read-a-thons, bake sales, etc.  Any kid can do this…..get out there and do your own Lemons-to-Aid!  Please send us your pictures and we’ll post them on our blog.

http://lemonstoaid.org/

 

We also recommend donating proceeds to the American Red Cross. http://www.redcross.org/

Biz Kid$ to air in Hawaii!

HAWAII CREDIT UNION League, on behalf of Hawaii’s 85 credit unions, donated $11,898.92 to underwrite Biz Kid$ programming on PBS Hawaii. Biz Kid$ is the award-winning television series broadcaston PBS affiliate stations nationwide that teaches children how to make and manage money.

“We believe that PBS Hawaii’s commit­ment to quality programming provides the perfect venue to teach and promote the values of savings, budgeting and investing through Biz Kid$,” said League President Dennis Tanimoto on behalf of its member credit unions. As not-for-profit cooperative financial institutions, Hawaii credit unions believe in the philosophy of “people helping people,” and are proud to support PBS Hawaii in providing quality financial education forthe keiki of Hawaii.

Biz Kid$ will debut on Saturday, March 5th at 12 noon, on PBS Hawaii. (PBS Hawaii Channels are KHET Channel 11.1, Basic Cable Channel 10, Digital Channel 90, and HD Channel 1010.) There are 26 episodes that will air every week; after 26 weeks, PBS Hawaii will re-telecast each episode for another 26 weeks, for a total of 52 weeks. As headlines of financial problems continue to dominate thenews, the financial literacy of our youth—our future economic leaders—is more critical than ever. Biz Kid$ is an entertaining, fast-paced series that teaches kids how to use credit wisely and how to be their own financial managers. Produced in High Definition (HD) by thecreators of the Emmy Award-winning series Bill Nye the Science Guy, BizKid$ illustrates the importance of saving, budgeting, investing, and giving back to the community.

 

-Hawaii’s Credit Union

http://www.hcul.org/email/lgefiles11/0301LGEbizkid$.pdf

Newsletter: March, 2011
The Vault, March 2011: Exchange rates exposed!
In this issue of The Vault, we look at global currencies, how exchange rates are set, and why it matters to you.
Share The Vault with a friend!
Love The Vault? Send it to a friend or share it on Facebook using the buttons at the upper right. Help your friends learn about money and business!
Sing a song of currency
Learn how a traveling choir deals with exchange rates in this clip from a recent episode of Biz Kid$:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zqQnNuNvQo
It’s all relative
Money used to be made of precious metals like gold and silver. After a few thousand years, people started using paper notes that represented gold held in vaults. This was called the “gold standard.” This system broke down after World War II. Today, currencies are backed by—well, by nothing, except people’s faith in them. Most transactions are digital, and exchange rates today are not set by authorities. They are set by markets. The only way to move an exchange rate is by buying or selling lots of a particular currency.
Buying and selling money
Money is valuable because it can buy stuff. If Americans want to buy stuff made in Japan, they have to buy Japanese yen to get it. That makes Japanese yen worth more than the dollar, because there’s more demand for the yen (supply and demand!). Currencies that are stable, like the U.S. dollar and the Euro, tend to be worth more than unstable currencies. You want to be able to buy the same amount of stuff tomorrow with the money you buy today.
The fabulous forex
Currencies are bought and sold on a market called the “foreign exchange market” or “forex.” The forex is the largest market in the world. Four TRILLION dollars in currency changes hands every single day. It’s such a big and complex market that nobody can predict which way exchange rates will go. Big-time traders like governments and ultra-rich investors can try to move rates by buying or selling lots of a currency at once.
So what?
If you go to a country where the currency is weak compared to your home currency, you can get more for your money.
For instance, if the British pound (£) is worth $1.50, how many dollars will you spend on a tuna sandwich that costs £5.00?
£5.00 x $1.50 = $7.50
Exchange rates are also important if you are buying or selling stuff abroad. Your products or services are relatively cheap in countries with stronger currencies than yours. China buys lots of U.S. dollars to keep their currency weak against the dollar, so their exported goods are less expensive in the U.S. It works the other way, too—strong currencies make exports more expensive and imports less expensive.
Get more money for your money
You have to buy local currency when you travel. The money changers have to make a profit. They buy your currency at a low rate and sell it back to you at a higher rate when you leave. But you can get better rates with a few tips:
  • Exchange bureaus in airports sometimes charge high rates. Research the exchange rate before you go.
  • Getting cash from ATM machines will usually give you the best rate, but watch out for fees and get as much money as you can at once.
  • Call your bank before you travel so they don’t freeze your card when you take out money in another country.
For more on getting exchange rates and traveling, visit this site: http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=44&category=8

Follow us on Facebook!

Follow us on Facebook! Please follow this link and “like” Biz Kid$

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Biz-Kid/60335554408

We will be providing more behind the scenes pictures and video’s as we get closer and closer to the airing of season 4 in April, which is of course Financial Literacy month. Stay tuned and Thanks!

Newsletter: February, 2011
The Vault  February 2011: The World Wild Web
Share The Vault!
Love The Vault? Why not forward it to a friend? Use the buttons at the upper right to share it, or just send it along as an email.
Avoiding online scams
The Internet is awesome—many Biz Kid$ have gotten their businesses going on the Web. But it’s got a dark side, too. Scammers are standing by, waiting to steal your money, your credit card number, or your identity. So get wise—read this issue of The Vault for tips on avoiding computerized fraudsters!
Top tips
If you remember these simple tips, you’ll be much less likely to lose your money or your identity online.
  • If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Nobody sells a real Louis Vuitton bag for $20, and nobody makes $500 a day stuffing envelopes from home.
  • Be very careful who gets your credit card information—and never give out your social security number or other personal info.
  • Email is not secure. Someone asking for passwords or bank information that way is surely a scammer.
Field guide to fraudsters
The best way to avoid a scam is to know what one looks like! Here are a few of the top scams and ways to avoid them. For more tips, visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center athttp://www.ic3.gov/crimeschemes.aspx.
Phishing
Phishing emails direct you to fake (but real-looking) Web sites, ask for personal data, or give you a phone number to call.
  • Phishing emails and Web sites can look very real. Sometimes they even use a familiar logo. Be careful!
  • Legitimate companies will never ask you to provide your password or other personal information over the phone or via email. That’s a sure sign of a scam.
Auction fraud
Auction sites are great places to buy and sell your stuff. But they are also one of the biggest places that scams happen on the Internet.
  • Do business with buyers and sellers only in your own country. Once your money goes out of the country, it’s a lot harder to get it back.
  • If someone claims to be in the U.S. on the site but communicates with you from another country, stop the transaction.
  • Read feedback. Try to do business with people who have lots of positive ratings and few or no negative ones.
  • Use a credit card if you can so you can dispute the charges if necessary.
  • Never give the seller your credit card number directly. Buy through the auction site or a service like PayPal.
Credit Card Fraud
One nice thing about credit cards is that many offer built-in protection from fraudulent transactions. But it’s much better not to get scammed in the first place.
  • Ensure a Web site is secure before providing your credit card number. A secure connection will often have an “https” rather than an “http” before the Web address. Many browsers will show you a lock icon or other indication that the connection is secure.
  • Read your bank and credit card statements every month. Call the issuer if you see transactions you don’t recognize.
Think you’ve found an online scam? Report it at the FBI’s tips site here: https://tips.fbi.gov/
A young man smiling in a gray hoodie.

Bigfoot

Bigfoot

Hey Biz Kids!  Whew, what a day!  At eight a.m. Austin and I showed up at the studio, along with below freezing temperatures and headed out to our location to film a sketch about Bigfoot paying taxes.  At one point I remember looking down at my hands, which were covered in thin, brown fuzzy gloves.  You’d think that wearing a giant furry Bigfoot costume would be warm….  you’d be wrong.  Shot after shot, I lumbered out of the forest to ask Austin for help with my taxes.  By the time we were done, not only was I shaking, but I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes.  I was a frozen Bigfoot…  or is that a Yeti?  Who knows!

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