A staggering 76% of young adults are unable to pass a basic financial literacy test. Three out of every four kids that graduate high school won’t know how to perform real life financial tasks such as, opening a bank account, buying their first car, or budgeting for groceries. And sadly, without knowledge of these life skills, they will be debt within a year.
Out of this, an app was developed called GravyStack, a new app that allows kids ages 8 to 18 to gain experience with real money. It’s the world’s first bank that plays like a game. Kids can watch their money as it flows into Save, Spend, and Share Jars.
When asked whether GravyStack dealt with virtual money or real money, Founder Scott Donnell, has this to say, “It’s an actual bank account. That’s the thing that everyone is so amazed by, and that is, we’re using the bank account as the game to teach these principles to the kids. And so, they get a debit card, they get three accounts for Save, Spend, and Share. They can invest in NYSE and NASDAQ stocks from their Save Jar, and they can learn how to earn starting at home and in their communities. And then there are over 100 games to teach them these principles.”
Millionaire Maker, Loral Langemeier has been on a similar mission since the release of her sixth New York Times best-selling book, Make Your Kids Millionaire: The Step-by-Step Guide to Lead Children to Financial Freedom,” release May 10, 2022. It’s no wonder why Loral became an investor and advocate of what Scott is trying to do with GravyStack.
“One of my clients, Lee Richter, knew Scott, and we’ve just done a lot together. Her daughter was very active at our Big Table, became active with Scott at Apex, and then as this came to be, and she’s like, you’ve got to invest. And so, I invested, and then started really being part of the meetings and contributing, and it just came right up our alley. And, for me, having the book (Make Your Kids Millionaires) come out, it was just a double down,” explains Loral when asked how she came to be involved as an investor.
Loral states that, “I’m going to use it as a total platform, from the education of my book, to now, having kids go setup their bank over at GravyStack.”
Both Loral and Scott do not share in the notion of giving your kids an allowance, that any money given should be earned. Statistically, 50% of parents who administer an allowance, make their kids save a portion of it. 37% of parents let their children borrow against their allowance, training them to have a borrow and debt mindset. And 66% of kids still receive an allowance, even if their chores have not been completed, as agreed upon.
Right now, the GravyStack app is still in the beta stage, but will be downloadable at the end of March of this year on both iOS and Android for free. Or you can go to https://gravystack.com/start and sign up. While the app won’t be available for another couple of months, children right now are using and loving it. There is a wait list a mile long. So far, in the app’s beta test, the average family is saving $547 in the first month of playing the games.
“There’s a ton of kids waiting to download. We have tons of families testing it right now, and they’re beating up the app. They’re doing the home gig system, which is our answer to the allowance problem,” adds Scott.
The future sees Gravy Stack moving into teaching college kids as well, because the games are already being played by kids in their twenties.
Loral Langemeier shares the same vision of teaching college kids to manage their money. She works closely with student athletes, and their coaches by showing them how to manage their money, save it and invest for when you are no longer a student athlete or athlete.
“As soon as we launch, I’m going across all the universities that I’m working with, and the football and baseball teams, because they don’t know much more than a ten- or twelve-year-old,” adds Loral.
In closing, Scott had this to say, “Our ultimate vision is 50 million financially competent kids ready to succeed in the real world.”
Scott Donnell just finished his new book called, “Value Creation Kids,” which will be released mid-April. You can go to www.gravystack.com and sign up to be notified of its release.
For more information, please visit www.makeyourkidsmillionaires.com
