Basic Overview
The Money Mammals Saving Money Is Fun Kids Club (“SMIF Club”) is a multimedia site with videos, games and more to help kids learn about the value of money in a fun & engaging way. The SMIF Club is designed for 0-11 year olds, but is open to children of all ages.
Why did you create The SMIF Club?
We created this program because we feel that it’s vital to teach kids about money as early as possible so that they can grow up to be fiscally responsible adults. The Money Mammals help teach kids about money by making the subject fun and engaging. As parents of young children we wanted to create a group of characters that would help kids learn about money.
Does it cost anything to join The SMIF Club?
No. Any kid up to age 11 can sign up at their credit union to join. Although anyone can enjoy The SMIF Club without an account, they won’t have the same privileges as registered members, such as posting high scores and seeing updated Credit Union news.
Is there any advertising?
The SMIF Club is advertising free for kids.
At a Glance
The Money Mammals are the set of characters designed specifically to teach kids about the value of money. Our goal is to make The Money Mammals the source parents turn to in order to start their children’s lifelong process of learning the value of money.
All Money Mammals products and services will help to foster its message about the value of money.
What We Believe
That it is imperative that we teach our children about the value of money – to share and save and spend smart, too – as early as possible.
That young children can be engaged with entertainment to learn the “value of money” message.
We want to help raise a generation of kids with money smarts, not a generation of kids whose sole concern is money. The Money Mammals is only the first step in beginning a lifelong dialogue between parent and child about the value of money.
Why the Money Mammals?
ALAN GREENSPAN says teaching kids money younger is better…
“Children and teenagers should begin learning basic financial skills as early as possible. Indeed, improving basic financial education in elementary and secondary schools can help prevent students from making poor decisions later, when they are young adults, that can take years to overcome.”
--Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Kids are voracious consumers; they need protection against the forces of consumerism…
“Children ages 4 to 12 shell out an estimated $35.6 billion of their own cash annually, more than four times what they did a decade ago. They may not have huge allowances, but what they do have is highly disposable.”
--Parents Magazine
Marketing is pervasive…
"There's almost no place where something isn't being sold to our children,"
--Diane Wood, executive director of the Center for a New American Dream, an advocacy group whose goal is to help Americans resist excessive consumerism.
“A growing number of companies are even marketing directly through schools.”
--Parents Magazine
Parents are concerned…
“…A poll conducted by the [Center for the New American Dream] showed that almost 80 percent of respondents think marketing pressures kids to buy products that are unhealthy or too costly; seven out of ten say such advertising is bad for their kids' values; and almost two thirds of parents say that their children define their self-worth in terms of possessions and that the problem has worsened over time.”
--Parents Magazine
But Parents don’t know what to do…
A recent online survey by Northwestern Mutual reveals many contradictions in how parents teach their kids about money. The nationwide survey shows that:
Most parents believe that children should start learning the ABC's of money management before they start kindergarten.
However, almost half of parents feel they don't set a good example for their children when it comes to handling money.
Parents also view kids as feeling "entitled" to have whatever it is they want whenever they want it.
The desire to save is becoming extinct…
Lack of financial education has helped drive consumerism, in turn dropping American saving levels to a disturbing level -- below 0%.