The Tony Steuer Podcast with Rishi Vamdatt: An Insider’s Look at Money and Kids

On the latest episode of The Tony Steuer Podcast, I spoke with Rishi Vamdatt, creator of Easy Peasy Finance about why personal finance is important for kids. 

Rishi Vamdatt is the creator of Easy Peasy Finance, with a mission to spread financial literacy by breaking down complex financial concepts through animated, fun personal finance videos loved by all ages. He has also authored a book on money & budgeting called "Easy Peasy Money", and created free financial literacy resources like online courses, quizzes, infographics, glossary of terms, etc. that are available on his website.

In this episode we discussed:

- The idea behind Easy Peasy Finance

- His book “Easy Peasy Money: A Fun Money & Budgeting Book”

- The impact of his YouTube Channel across all age ranges

Transcript

VO: 0:00

You're listening to the Tony Steuer Podcast, where Tony interviews financial literacy advocates who are changing the conversation on money. So you can catch up on the latest trends and ideas in the world of financial literacy and education. Presented by Paperwork. Be prepared for life.

Tony: 0:23

Welcome to the Tony Stewart podcast presented by Paperwork. I'm pleased to be joined today by Rishi Vamdatt. Rishi is the creator of Easy Peasy Finance. Rishi is also the co- author of Easy Peasy Money: A Fun Money& Budgeting Book. In this episode, we'll be discussing why personal finance is important for kids and how Rishi is creating resources to help other kids learn about money. Rishi, welcome to the Tony Steuer podcast. Thank you for joining me today.

Rishi: 0:54

Thank you so much for having me. I'm very happy to be here.

Tony: 0:57

Yeah, well, we're happy to have you and looking forward to speaking with you. So, you know, this is where I always start with people is at the beginning. Can you tell us a little bit about what is your origin story? What sparked your interest in financial literacy?

Rishi: 1:12

So when I was six, my parents, they had some books about finance and so I just started reading one of them and it wasn't like meant for kids. It was more of a, how to book, but it was still very engaging and I found it very interesting. And so I kept on reading it and I told my parents, and then they wanted to kind of fuel my interest for finance. And so they got me other books, like Blue Chip Kids, the kids money book. And then they also got other magazines for me, like Kiplinger's, Forbes, Fortune, Entrepreneur, and other things. And over time I read those books and magazines and I got more and more interested in personal finance. And so when I was eight after I had been interested in finance for around two years, um, that me and my parents decided that it was time to kind of share my passion for finance with the world. And so that's how we created Easy Peasy Finance.

Tony: 2:08

That's great. That's, that's really interesting. And it's, you know, normally, I think my son was reading Mad Magazine when he was little. You still read Mad Magazine or?

Rishi: 2:19

Uh, no, I don't read that magazine.

Tony: 2:22

Oh, okay. Just curious. So Easy Peasy Finance is actually a great name, I love it. How did you come up with the idea of Easy Peasy Finance and the name?

Rishi: 2:35

So, when I was eight and when me and my parents decided to create Easy Peasy Finance. So we thought about all these different aspects. So the names specifically Easy Peasy Finance, we brainstormed a list of different possible names. And then we decided on Easy Peasy Finance in the end because we thought it kind of represented our channel. So it conveys that the videos are easy and simple and aren't really complicated. And they're meant for kids because that's what, that's what easy-peasy means. And then in our videos, we have two characters and we chose to use two characters because it offers a question and answer format, which is easy for kids to understand. And so we thought that would be easier for kids and help them get more engaged and interested in finance. And another thing that we did for the kids experience and to make them understand the videos better and have fun was using animation. So our videos are animated. The two characters are animated. There's a lot of images that come up during the videos. And there's a lot of other things like in our videos that are also animated. And so we chose to do that because that would also be better for the kids to make it more engaging and fun. And that would be easier, I feel, to watch a fun animated video than watching someone just talk looking at the camera. And so that's how we decided to do that. And also just one last thing for our videos. Each video is short, it's only two to three minutes. And so on Easy Peasy Finance, all the videos are short because that's also better for kids attention span. They don't have as long of an attention span. And so if we can concisely explain the topics in these two to three minutes, then it's easier for them to understand because they're still interested before that.

Tony: 4:21

That's great. And, and I like the short form of the videos is I feel, you know, even adults have a short attention span, especially when it comes to money issues is do you find that sometimes they can be a little bit more challenging or tougher to get into that short format to get things into two or three minutes that are kind of more complicated topics that take you awhile?

Rishi: 4:48

So I feel like in the beginning it was definitely kind of a challenge to break these concepts down into two, two to three minutes, but now we on Easy Peasy Finance, we've been doing it for over three years. We have over 170 videos. And so I have a lot of practice with writing the script and kind of simplifying the concepts. And so now it's a lot easier than it used to be for trying to break down these concepts since I have all of this practice.

Tony: 5:15

That's great. You know, so one of the other things I was curious about is, you know, you mentioned you were reading Kiplinger's and Forbes and you know, the other financial magazines is, has it been challenging to explain some of the terms in a way that kids can explain them? I know that sometimes when I explained some of these terms to people, it can take a while because these terms can be complicated. How is it for you? How do you break them down?

Rishi: 5:45

So when we break down these concepts to make it simple for kids, a lot of the things that I talked about earlier in our videos, they kind of help. So our script is in a question and answer format, which also allows to be simpler rather than just someone talking. It's easier if we can be direct and to the point by just having questions and answers, which helps to simplify it and make the video shorter. And then the animation also makes it engaging and fun. So that kids don't really need, we don't need to explain things as much if there's images and other things related to the topic, popping up on screen, to help kids imbibe the concepts and learn about it.

Tony: 6:25

Well, that's great. I, I loved the idea with your videos, I watched a couple of the videos, how the images, I think, do help explain the concept, you know, that the pictures are helpful with these complicated topics. So, you know, we've talked about, you know, of course, personal finance for kids. That's what you do is why do you feel that personal finance is important for kids? Why did you want to teach other kids about it?

Rishi: 6:54

So there's many reasons that personal finance is very important to teach kids. And so one of those reasons is that personal finance is a key life skill that you're going to have to learn about whether it says you're an adult when you're an adult, or when you're a kid, you're still going to have to learn about it. And anything is easier to learn as a kid, whether it's skiing, snowboarding, fishing, biking, anything. So you might as well just learn finance as a kid and save yourself the trouble by making it easier for yourself. And then another reason why I think it's important for kids to learn finance when they're young is because they can avoid a lot of the mistakes they might've otherwise made. So if they didn't learn about finance until they were an adult, then they might get into credit card debt. They might not start investing in it until it's really late. They might make, they might have to pay a lot in fees. They won't be able to make the best financial decisions because they're not prepared. And also kids, if they learn about finance early on, they'll also be able to start investing early on. And that means that there'll be able to take advantage of the magical power of compounding. And so what that means is if they invest early, then they'll be able to have a lot more money over time in investing as it grows compared to if they invest late. So let me just give you an example. If someone learns about finance as a kid, and they start investing at age 20, because of that, and the invest a hundred dollars a month until they're 60, they'd have over$700,000. But then if they only started investing when they're 40, which is kind of what would happen if they learn about finance as an adult, then they'd only have around$77,000, which is a huge difference. We're just learning about finance when you're young and as a kid.

Tony: 8:44

Yeah. That is a great point. And most people, you know, don't learn about it or start savings, so it's very important that you're reaching kids. On my podcast, I've interviewed a young lady who's a junior in high school and some college students, and they say the same thing as you know, that they feel that it would be great if personal finance was taught in school. And they already felt that, you know, when they're 18, 19, 20 years old, that they wish they had known a few years earlier, which is right, you know, right. The age where you're talking to and where you are. So that's, I think that's so important. So, you know, I was curious, do you find that your friends are interested in personal finance? Have you gotten your friends onboard?

Rishi: 9:37

So in school, all my friends they're really, they watch our videos. They're subscribed and they're very, they've been very supportive of Easy Peasy Finance. They talk about finance in class. They ask me questions about it. And so they are, a lot of them do know about finance and these concepts because they are very supportive and they watch the videos.

Tony: 9:57

That's great. That's really exciting. You know, I wanted to ask you about it writing a book. I mean, that's a pretty big deal. I know when I wrote my first book, it was kind of, you know, it took awhile. So I wanted to ask you, what was it like writing your book, Easy Peasy Money: A Fun Money& Budgeting Book.

Rishi: 10:18

So when I was writing Easy Peasy Money, I had a lot of fun and it was a really great experience for me to learn from, and it was also very enjoyable. And so the steps that I took when I was writing the book were first, I had to kind of think about the concepts that would be in the book. So the different chapters and Easy Peasy Money is the first book that we're publishing on Easy Peasy Finance from Easy Peasy Finance. And so we wanted it to cover the basic concept of finance. So that's earning, spending, saving, and investing, and also budgeting and borrowing as well. And so those were the concepts that I decided would be chapters in the book. And so after I thought of the topics for the different chapters, I had to actually create the content of the book. And so I created the script for the book and I found images in the book. And so just like on our YouTube channel Easy Peasy Finance, in the book, we also have images and characters which helps to make the book engaging for kids. And so I had to find the images that I was going to use in the book. And so once I found the images, then we kind of had to put those things together and actually create the page layout and create the content of the book. And in addition to the images, I also had to create infographics for the book to help make it engaging. And so after all of that was done, the actual content of the book was finalized and finished, what I had to do then was to design the cover. And so I chose different fonts, the colors, the images in the background, the text and different things like that to create the cover. And then the last step was actually publishing the book. So me and my family, we worked together to do the actual publishing. And then, yeah, and now it's published on Amazon. So if you want to buy it, you can get it on Amazon Easy Peasy Money.

Tony: 12:12

That's great. And Rishi, and for all of our listeners and viewers, I will be posting links in the show notes to check out Rishi's book at Easy Peasy Money on Amazon and other book retailers. Did it feel really good though, when you finish the book? I mean, it is a nice feeling, huh?

Rishi: 12:34

Yeah. I felt a lot of accomplishment and I was very happy that I finished the book and I just felt really good after I'd published it.

Tony: 12:42

Now, do you feel like you want to write another one?

Rishi: 12:44

Yeah. Actually, that's another thing that we're working on on at Easy Peasy Finance in the future, we're planning to publish even more books about different topics like investing, the stock market, banking, and credit cards. And actually, even now we're actually working on the second book Easy Peasy Investing, which covers things like investing, asset allocation, portfolios, and different things like that related to investing. And so you should watch out for that. It'll, we'll publish that in the future.

Tony: 13:16

Great, great. Well, I'm looking forward to it. So Rishi, I know it started pretty much with your YouTube channel. Tell us a little bit about your YouTube channel.

Rishi: 13:25

So on our YouTube channel Easy Peasy Finance, we have a lot of different videos. We have over 170 videos, all animated all with the characters and things that I talked about earlier. And so each video covers a different topic in personal finance and together, the videos cover a lot of different topics, which include earning, spending, saving, investing, borrowing, banking, credit cards, taxes, retirement, and other topics as well. And so on our YouTube channel to kind of help you sort the videos and to kind of watch the ones that you're interested in. We also have different playlists, which are covering different topics. So like the ones that are earlier, you have investing 101 and stock market for dummies and other things like that to kind of cover whatever you want to learn more about in finance to kind of help you select the videos you want to watch.

Tony: 14:23

Well, that's great. That's a fantastic idea. So, you know, some of the things we've been talking about is, you know, your interest in financial literacy and that it's an essential life skill is how do you feel that we can actually do something? How do you feel we can improve financial literacy?

Rishi: 14:44

So one step that we can take to kind of improve financial literacy and help kids be more prepared for like when they're they become an adult is to teach about teach personal finance in schools. So that's the best solution because then all kids would learn about personal finance. And since it would be part of school curriculum, if that were the case, it would also be good because they can ask their teachers, they can look at their schools things, and they can just get a more comprehensive understanding about personal finance. And so until that's the case, and until personal finance is taught by schools, there's also other things that we can do to help promote financial literacy and to teach kids about personal finance. One of which is having parents teach their kids about finance. So if, if schools can't teach on their own, then parents can also take the initiative and teach their kids about finance, using different resources, like Easy Peasy Finance to make personal finance simple, and to make it easier for kids to understand, because that's another important thing, because if we want kids to be interested in finance and learn about it, you should try and use engaging and fun resources rather than something that kids would be bored of, or that they wouldn't enjoy as much because they have a much higher chance of retaining the information and actually learning something if they enjoy the material that's being taught

Tony: 16:09

A hundred percent, I think that goes for anybody of any age. So I have a question about that. You know, we, we talk about kids and parents, and I agree with you is that the parents should be teaching the kids. But since kids are the ones who are looking at Easy Peasy Finance, have you heard from other kids or from your friends that they've gotten their parents interested in finance, through Easy Peasy Finance?

Rishi: 16:32

So on Easy Peasy Finance, we do have a lot of kids that are watching our videos and who are like also probably showing their parents and engaging other people in personal finance and helping them learn. But actually the viewers of Easy Peasy Finance, I'm very happy to know this. It's actually not just coming from kids, other people like parents and teachers, they're also using Easy Peasy Finance. So all three parents, teachers, and students and kids, they're all using our videos and they're learning from it, which I'm very happy to know that we're benefiting so many people.

Tony: 17:07

Well, that's great. That's gotta feel so good that you're reaching people and making a positive difference in helping them out. That's that's great. So Rishi, as we wrap up, what is your number one tip on being financially prepared?

Rishi: 17:25

So for adults, one tip that I have is to have an emergency fund. So to help you stay prepared. So in an emergency fund, you have three to six months worth of expenses that you save up in a savings account or something like that, that you can use in case of an emergency or unforeseen event. And so the importance of an emergency fund is that it kind of makes it possible for you to financially deal with anything that happens without completely destroying your finances, which might otherwise happen if you didn't have an emergency fund. And two tips, actually I have for kids who are learning finance, are that you, it's important to take advantage of compounding and just start investing early. Especially if you learn about finance from an early age, it's important to take advantage of compounding. And like in the example I said earlier, just starting early can give you so just way better returns. And so it's important to start investing early. And the second tip that I have actually for kids is to know your needs and your wants. And it's very important throughout your life. Not just as a kid to be able to distinguish between your needs and your wants, because those are something that that's something that'll be very handy in your life because you should definitely spend on one. So you shouldn't only have needs, but knowing what's a want, like a gaming console, like a PS five, and what's a need like sneakers is really important in the future and to help you control over spending.

Tony: 19:00

Well, that's great. And I think that's a really good rule for people is to understand the difference between needs and wants. And I'm really glad you point that out. The other thing too, is the emergency fund that often comes up as the number one tip. I agree with you completely people should have emergency funds. So Rishi, we've talked about your resources, is that, can you tell us a little bit about those resources and where people can learn more about you and get in touch with your materials?

Rishi: 19:32

So our YouTube channel is Easy Peasy Finance, and if you liked the videos, please subscribe. And the book is called Easy Peasy Money and you can buy it on Amazon. And I didn't really talk about this today, but in addition to those two things, we also have a website with a lot of bonus material, like free courses, infographics, downloadable, calculators, and spreadsheets, quizzes, our podcasts, and other things that you can also find that EasyPeasyFinance.com, which might be helpful.

Tony: 20:03

Well, that's great. Yeah, it's a wonderful website and encourage anybody who's watching or listening to check out the Easy Peasy Finance website. And there is a link in the show notes, Rishi, thanks again for joining me on the Tony Steuer Podcast.

Rishi: 20:20

Thank you so much for having me. I'm very happy to be here.

Tony: 20:24

It was, it was a real pleasure. Thank you. Take care. And to everybody who tuned in, thank you very much for watching or listening to the Tony Steuer Podcast. Until next time.