Money Matters

A presentation was given in my Personal Financial Planning class that spoke on how to develop good money habits. The main objective was to learn how to share, spend, and save your money. The presenter had the class repeat the quote “The money you spend today can change the world.” An example the presenter gave to illustrate the quote was the by telling a story about a young woman. At one of his speaking arrangements at a camp he challenged the youth to raise money to donate to the camp. At the end of the summer he was astonished to learn that the kids had saved their money up to donate. He found their donation to be remarkable because these kids were in need of the money themselves. Every year since a different group of kids has given money to the camp. The presenter later learned that one of the kids from the first year had died in a car accident. He was told at the funeral that she was the one to urge the group to donate. She had taken his words to heart, that their money could change the world.

This story moved me because of the way the presenter told it. He was genuinely surprised by the gift the kids made. He was impressed by the generosity of the kids and he himself learned that he should share more. The Aristotle piece said that “to learn gives the liveliest pleasure, not only to philosopher but to men in general.” page 1 Although he constantly speaks on good money habits his speeches had became in some ways redundant to him. The children’s gift made him realize that he was helping to shape their money habits and by doing so he was changing the world. He was able to learn from the children's generosity. The tragedy of the death of the young woman added a new perceptive to the presenter. He would never have thought she would be the one to urge the others to give. In the reading it said that “Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action.” page 2 The actions of the young woman created a snowball effect. Her death was a tragedy because of her actions in life. Her generosity was the cause of her peers to give. She not only affected the presenter and her peers but the subsequent groups that attend the camp.