Hip-Hop Stars Teach Teens
How to Manage Money

By Georgio Conroe| VOX Staff

It’s never too early for teens to begin budgeting and become smarter about money — especially with the country currently facing an economic crisis. That’s why I attended the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network’s “Get Your Money Right” Financial Empowerment Summit at Clark Atlanta University on Oct. 17. The event was interactive, informational, and motivating because we learned how to build wealth and be financially independent.

Hundreds of teens, college students and parents learned how to manage their money, maintain good credit and make good investments. Hip-hop entrepreneur, Russell Simmons told the audience that our attendance was a major step in making the right decisions because it’s better to learn by someone else’s examples to avoid making the same mistakes. It was great to see hip-hop leaders like Simmons and other artists, like panelists Ludacris, Yung Joc, Gorilla Zoe, Chingy, Monica and Yung Berg, come together to empower the urban community and discuss ways for everyone to be more responsible with their money.

At the conference, each of us was given a “Get Your Money Right Financial Empowerment” workbook to refer to during the sessions. The workbook, which was filled with tips and financial-related information, has been distributed to thousands of teens and young adults around the country.

The panelists told interesting personal stories about times when they didn’t use their money wisely. One of the panelists told a story about using his American Express card as “free money.” He said he used the card and stopped paying on it, and that got him into some big financial trouble. His story made me want to be more responsible if I ever get a credit card.

According to the National Consumers League (2002), 26 percent of teens plan to get their first credit card as soon as they turn 18, and over half (52 percent) believe that a credit card is an informal agreement to pay money owed. A credit card is like a loan because you have to pay back the money plus interest, even though that’s often misunderstood by teens. Some of us can’t wait to get our first credit card and use it to buy things we’ve always wanted.

“Buying that Louis Vuitton or Gucci bag is really not important,” said Greg Street from Atlanta’s V-103. Street was talking about how when some people get money, they go after name brands instead of saving or budgeting for something cheaper.

“Budgeting should be in every one’s vocabulary,” said Ludacris’ mother, Roberta Shields. I agree with her because most teens only know the words spend and buy. When we get money, the only thing we want to do with it is spend it and buy something nice. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s also important for us to save money.

This summit really pushed me to think about budgeting and saving. When I was younger, I would spend my money in a heartbeat. Now I know that when I get money, I shouldn’t always use it how I want. I have to set some aside for important things I may need in the future.

You can download the FREE “Get Your Money Right” Workbook in Spanish and English at Hsan.org. Click on the Get Your Money Right image on the homepage.