Deeper Dive: Warren Buffet's Secret Millionaires Club

You'll find this post most helpful if:
- you're a parent with an elementary school age child.
- you're looking for a one-stop solution for boosting your child's financial literacy and you're wondering if Warren Buffet's Secret Millionaires Club (SMCKids) fits the bill.

Things to know:
- SMCKids is a free, online financial literacy resource designed for kids.
- The site is sponsored by Genius Brands International and features Warren Buffet as one of several animated characters.
- No account or login is needed to use the site or work through the activities.

Things I like:
- The content is well presented and delivered almost entirely through animated video (webisodes) and comics (both digital and PDF, which is cool) and games. It's all geared toward holding the attention of older elementary and even middle school age kids.
- This resource covers a wide range of what I would consider to be foundational topics, from saving to debt with life lessons thrown in for good measure (learn from your mistakes, build a good reputation).
- Who doesn't love a well designed game? There are four games available on this website but Number Blaster and Counting Money are the two that kids will be drawn to immediately. The other "games" include a quiz and a business building exercise. Interesting, but I don't think kids will think of it as a game.

Things I'm not crazy about:
- I actually really like this resource for younger kids, although I think teens might not be as enthusiastic about the presentation.

My high-tech way of helping my
teen practice making change.

- There isn't much here for teens in the way of topics like checking, savings, student loans, etc. but that's not what this resource was intended to do.

Bottom line:
This resource is geared toward elementary and possibly middle school age kids. It's really well presented and I think younger kids will enjoy watching the webisodes and being introduced to the wisdom of the Sage of Omaha (Warren Buffet) through a medium they enjoy.

I will share this website with my friends who have younger kids, but I plan to have my teen go through the Counting Money game for some extra practice. Side note: you can also do a version of this game at home using real coins and some paper "bills." We've done this a few times on the kitchen table with money from the loose change jar. It's a good way to reinforce the concept and it gave me a chance to share some of my own teenager horror stories from my fast food register days! I'm sure your teen will love hearing your stories about as much as mine did :)