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Charles Schwab MoneyWise misses out on a perfect opportunity

 When I saw this headline my first reaction for schwabmoneywise was to expect an interactive site that engaged participants in discussion, and interaction.

After all, they won’t be kids forever. Schwab MoneyWise will help you teach your teens the fundamentals of finance and money management. So you can raise them with the knowledge to thrive in an increasingly complex financial world.

Source: Charles Schwab MoneyWise : Financial Basics Detail

The premise is based on, of course, research.

The site was developed based on Schwab research showing that parents want help educating their kids about money. Coincidentally, the 2007 Schwab Teens & Money Survey shows that teens themselves want to learn. Almost two thirds of teens (65 percent) believe that learning about money management is interesting; more than half (60 percent) say that it’s one of their top priorities; and nearly nine in ten (89 percent) say they want to learn how to invest their money to make it grow.

No such luck with my original expectation.  Its a classic 90’s site with pretty pictures, and financial suggestions.  Don’t get me wrong … the information is useful, such as anatomy of a paycheck.  The tools are poor, (even a print button, or a save button?)  Why anyone would ever complete 27 data points to calculate ‘income less expenses’ and see a pretty pie chart, with no ability to save the result and monitor progress is beyond me.

But then if we go back to the premise; that parents want help.  The site content is aimed at young people entering the workforce (my take).  In any event, it would be young parents, and the reason that young people would go to this site is to learn, and they do that online, by … interacting.  There is zero interaction with this site.  There is a feedback form, but that doesn’t count.

Sorry, Mr Schwab … this site will go no-where.

My Suggestion to Schwab:

Take a look at changeeverything.ca.  Imagine a site with your premise, helping young parents educate children, but constructed as a social network.  People helping people to discover the nuances and tips on budgetting, planning etc.  Now that would be useful, and imagine the data, learning and brand spin-off benefits that would accrue.

 

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5 thoughts on “Charles Schwab MoneyWise misses out on a perfect opportunity”

  1. I read your post, clicked on the link, and called my 17 year old daughter to come over and “play the game”.

    After 30 seconds she said “this is stupid, can I go now?” I said no, we have to finish the game. In 30 seconds we went from choosing baby-sitting as a part-time job, to choosing to continue working through retirement.

    And then at the end, the game tells us — and I quote — “you made a lot of sound decisions and can expect to achieve your financial dreams — provided that you continue to be careful with your dreams.” (!!)

    I’m going to rush out and open that new Schwab account TODAY!

  3. Can I also suggest “Stagecoach Island”, or Virtual Reality world for teens? By emersing them “in world”, they learn about money, ATMs, interest, etc. It’s certainly a different approach.

    blog.wellsfargo.com/StagecoachIsland
    or stagecoachisland.com

  4. Pingback: Money Lessons « Alternative marketing thinking

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