Students at Cayman’s trade school have been learning about financial investing and trading as part of a ‘tools for success’ course.
Experts from Cayman-based financial broker Tradeview Markets have been running seminars at Inspire Cayman as an element of the job-readiness programme.
The students at the trade school are largely involved in vocational training. But the school also teaches life skills, including money management.
Paul Meyer, of Tradeview, said learning about sensible personal investing could help anyone make the most of their income.
“The purpose is to teach the students to make their money work for them in the long term,” he said.
As part of the course, the students participated in an investment competition, trading pretend funds in global stock markets using Tradeview’s platform.
The competition was a lesson in risks as well as rewards.
Rasciene Whittaker was the most successful student, making a $17,000 profit over the 12 weeks of the programme.
Diversified portfolio
She said a diverse range of stocks had helped her maximise her earnings.
“It was really exciting to watch the stocks go up and down daily,” she said.
“I would love to be able to invest my own money.”
Sheno Dixon felt the flip side of the risk/reward equation, starting off in the black but ending up losing several thousand dollars. He said it was a hard lesson.
“You just have to be mindful of the stocks. You definitely have to be careful.”
Marilyn Whittaker – an instructor at the school but a newcomer to financial trading – also took part in the competition, finishing second with net profits in the competition of $11,000. She said investing in vaccine producers Pfizer and Moderna had paid off.
Third-placed Marcus Hydes focussed on tech stocks including Apple, Google and Tesla to make a $9,000 profit.
While the profits were fictional there were cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100 for the top three ‘investors’. As an instructor, Whittaker used her winnings to take the class out to lunch.
Inspire Cayman founder Michael Myles said the course is part of the school’s efforts to teach people to sensibly use their money. The school also runs a ‘financial peace university’ course on how to run a household budget and live debt-free.
With around a third of Caymanians earning less than $2,400 a month, Myles said it was vital that students were taught to maximise their savings. He said personal finance is not taught in schools and many people don’t know the basics of saving or investing.
“A child who is not taught the basics of money management will be at risk of making costly mistakes as a young adult,” he said.
“We must reduce these statistics by teaching our people to live within their means and win with money. This course was implemented to assist young people with improving money management and winning with money.”
Related Videos
