The Idea

INFLUENCED BY VANGUARD'S MISSION STATEMENT…

My Classroom Economy (MyCE) began with a mission: “To take a stand for all future investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.”

Since 2011, the MyCE program has reached over 815,000 students and 25,000 teachers!

As MyCE has grown and gained popularity, we started receiving requests from many teachers who sought to expand the program beyond the classroom setting.

Two key areas of interest emerged:

  • Integrating financial literacy concepts within students’ extracurricular activities
  • Reinforcing students’ financial literacy by integrating the concepts in their home life

My Classroom Economy decided 2019 was the right time to expand our offer. Relying upon the input of real MyCE users, we developed two additional offerings:

MyHE is a financial literacy program that retains the same basic structure and core purpose as the traditional MyCE offering: a way to teach young people not only the concepts of financial discipline and responsibility but also—very importantly—the rewards that go with it.

The program has been adapted to suit the needs of their target audience. MyHE was created for families who want to instill the virtues of financial literacy in their homes.

The program includes a curriculum guide and a selection of materials to enhance the experience. Best of all, it is available free of charge and can be ordered online! If you have questions or would like to give us feedback about the MyHE program or this website, please Contact Us.

What is MyHomeEconomy?

My Home Economy (MyHE) is designed to help children learn about financial behavior from an early age and start a dialogue about financial literacy at home. Brought to you by My Classroom Economy, a program for educators to teach financial responsibility through experiential learning, MyHE gives you the tools to create a simulated economy in your home. Your child will choose a job, collect a salary, and budget their salary toward expenses, such as rent.

Follow this simple user guide for suggestions from pilot users and tips from our team on how to implement the program in your home. The program is set up for flexibility, so feel free to adjust the program to what works best for your family. Most important, have fun teaching your children the financial concepts of earning, saving, and spending—at no cost to you.

MyHE’s basic structure uses the same main components as MyCE—jobs, salary, rent, bonuses/fines, and rewards—but with added flexibility, options, and suggestions to accommodate different family structures.

Implementing the program is an easy three-step process:

  1. Spend a little time preparing—gathering materials and planning how to customize the program for your home and children.
  2. Spend some time introducing the program to your children.
  3. Monitor your children’s progress and provide support and guidance when necessary.

As children perform their tasks, they are rewarded for helping you efficiently manage your home. At the same time, they learn valuable skills—such as responsibility, the value of saving, and delayed gratification—that they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Vanguard

A LONGTIME ADVOCATE OF FINANCIAL EDUCATION

Vanguard is one of the world's largest global investment management firms, serving more than 20 million investors in the United States and abroad. We are unique among mutual fund companies because we're client-owned (Vanguard is owned by its funds, which are owned by our clients).

Our clients come first in everything we do. Vanguard has long advocated for investor education, recognizing the correlation between investment success and the application of basic financial principles.

The company is also committed to the well-being of the community, both locally and broadly. The Vanguard Gives Back program supports employees in donating their time, talent, and treasure to assist the areas where we live and work. More than half of Vanguard's 17,000 crew members give their time to a variety of programs, including educational programs, group volunteer days, food drives, holiday giving, and workplace giving campaigns.

My Classroom Economy brings together our dedication to financial education and our desire to support the broad community. Employees from across the organization volunteered their time to create this website and all it contains.

Acknowledgments

DEVELOPED WITH THE HELP OF VANGUARD CREW & THEIR FAMILIES

In developing the program, materials, and website for My Home Economy, we sought the feedback and guidance from various pilot families.

Our special thanks go to these contributors:

Leadership & Launch Team

  • Meg McKinney
  • Gina Fanelli
  • Samantha Garrity

North Carolina Ambassadors

  • Rachel Vuksanic
  • Harris Linch

Pennsylvania Ambassadors

  • Tori Martin
  • Alex Leiser

Editorial Team

  • Paul Berry
  • Dana Reddington
  • Linda Huff-Paul

Design Team

  • Steve Yarnell
  • John Tierno

Technology Team

  • Vimal Persaud
  • Matt May
  • Rhett Brackeen
  • Seth Fineman

Research and Pilot Participants, who provided insights into the daily activities of their Home Economy and delivered feedback about the program and the resources we are providing. We are deeply appreciative of the families, who participated in a pilot group using My Home Economy resources in 2019. Their criticisms, suggestions, and creative ideas help continue to shape the program.

Contact Us

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

We are interested in your feedback as you implement the My Home Economy program and explore and reference the website. Your comments and observations are extremely important, as the program's success ultimately rests on the children's performance. Please contact us if you would like to give us any feedback about My Home Economy or this website.

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