The following was originally broadcast on KCBS, San Francisco:

By Arai Buendia
 

Last spring, during my last semester of high school, I read online that “the Dow Jones is down today,” and I thought: What the heck does that mean?

I’m Arai Buendia with a commentary from Youth Radio.

As a college-bound teenager I was scared that my lack of financial knowledge would lead me to make poor decisions with my student loans or develop bad credit – a common problem for undergrads. So over the summer I found a class in the Albany Adult School, called “Investing Strategies with Lilia.”

Most of my classmates were older than me by at least a decade. They’d had financial struggles and many of them lost their 401-K’s at the beginning of the recession. I thought, “Maybe if I get a head start now, I’ll avoid similar money problems.”

So I learned Wall Street’s vocabulary, the meanings of words like stocks, mutual funds and ETFs – that’s exchange traded funds to you. I grew to understand the very important difference between a necessity and luxury.

And most importantly, I learned the earlier you start thinking about money – whether saving it or investing it – the more confident you’ll feel about having enough of it in the future.

Our favorite stock watching alum Lauren Silverman is back with another post about investing. This time out she takes on the perception that being involved with the stock market means trading off one's sense of social responsibility:

Just because I am in love with Wall Street, doesn’t mean I am in love with Bail Outs.

Not all investing is “bad”. In fact, there’s a whole world of socially and environmentally responsible investing that encourages corporations to improve their practices on environmental, social issues. And the world of SRI is growing even while the economy is shrinking.

(via Silverwoman's Slant)

Aired on American Public Media's Marketplace on October 10, 2009.

LOS ANGELES-- Youth Radio's Mayra Jimenez vividly remembers her first trip to the bank. She was in eighth grade. Thing is, she wasn't there to open her own bank account. She was there to help her immigrant parents from Mexico navigate the banking system by translating for them. Scholars call it "language brokering." Youth Radio's Mayra Jimenez reports.

EconomyBeat, a user-generated site focusing on- strangely enough- economy stories has begun delving into the wild and woolly reaches of Craigslist, panning for comedy gold and a ground -up view of a cratering economy:

Dear Future late 20/early 30 Hipster Neighbor from the Mid-west/South/Idaho:

I know you are the coolest kid in Iowa/Ohio/Idaho/Texas/Florida/etc but…

While scanning CL for a cool vintage apartment near Hawthorne or Alberta, a sweet barista job and a new fixie to ride around on once you arrive, please reconsider your decision, and please do not move here.

There aren’t any jobs for the people who already live here….

Regards,

Your previous future neighbor

The first collection culled from the "Best of Craigslist" section proved so popular they're working on a second. Maybe we'll get a regular feature... assuming people can still afford internet access as the year goes on. (from EconomyBeat)

Before she was old enough to legally drink alcohol, Denise Tejada bought a house in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. Her brother Wilmer bought his first house when he was 21 and now he’s planning to invest in a second property soon.

Watch the video to find out how they did it.

By Lauren Silverman

It is that time of the year again—the annual college rite of passage. High school seniors are making their lists of places to apply. Checking out possible majors. Debating about essay topics. Choosing between private and public schools.

So listen up. I have a piece of advice.

Get over the four year-fix!

When I applied to the University of Michigan, I had no idea I would be graduating early. But here I am, three years later trying to get my degree. I’m definitely not anxious to jump into the shallow job market right now, but I don’t think staying in school another semester would better prepare me for the plunge.

I’m ready to live in the real world and even more ready to save this semester’s tuition and fees for an out-of-state student – a whopping $37,000.

While my choice wasn’t deliberate, there seems to be a growing consensus that the college experience doesn’t have to be four years long. The proportion of freshman trying to get out of college faster has been growing, according to Cornell University's Director of Institutional Research and Planning. And enrollment at community colleges has gone up in many states. Just this year, enrollment at California community colleges increased almost 5 percent. And that’s in a state with the highest number of students enrolled in community colleges.
 

Our friends at American Public Media's Marketplace recently camped out in front of Amoeba records in Hollywood and asked shoppers what music gets them through these harsh economic times.

Check out the original post for the Marketplace Playlist, and a whole lot of listener playlists in the comments!

Youth Radio alum Lauren Silverman has taken to investing in a big way. She's tracking trends on her blog, Silverwoman's Slant, and this week her hot tip is all about the fake things that keep our drinks tasting real good. It turns out that there are some proposals in the works to tax sugar laden beverages in order to help fight obesity. Yet the diet versions of your favorite soft drink will be exempt:

The traditional artificial sweeteners are aspartame, sucralose and saccharin, more commonly known as Equal, Splenda, and Sweet n’ Low, respectively. Under the proposals, beverages sweetened with these products would not be taxed, giving them a strategic advantage. However, food consumers have become increasingly wary of these artificial sweeteners, which natural health advocates claim are unsafe. That means producers of natural sweeteners, such as Stevia, will most likely profit the most from a soda tax.

(via Silverwoman's Slant)

A new poll is out from Zogby and our friends at Scoop 44:

While the nation wholly is reluctant to assign blame to the Bush Administration, according to a new Zogby/Scoop44 poll, a majority of 18- to 29-year-olds and 50- to 64-year-olds said the Bush administration’s economic policies are responsible for continued joblessness despite his departure from the White House.

Alexander Heffner has the analysis at Scoop 44.

 By Lauren Silverman

Aired on American Public Media's Marketplace on September 25, 2009

Months ago, I hardly knew what the NASDAQ was. Today I'm obsessed with the stock market.

The financial crises made me want to learn how markets work. So, I started practicing on stock market game websites. And I did pretty well. When analysts started raving about bargain stock deals, I couldn’t deny my craving to trade in real life any longer. That’s why I opened an online Charles Schwab account. Time to put my money where my mouse is. That is, the money not earmarked for tuition or resume writing workshops.

You see, I’m a senior at the University of Michigan.

My friends vow never to put money in the stock market. And I’m reading Warren Buffet. I even left a party last Saturday before the keg ran dry because I wanted to check my portfolio.