CHARLOTTE, N.C. — "Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do:" It’s Sharon Robinson’s golden rule on money.
The 8th grader learned that wisdom from her mom, and says it's been reiterated in classrooms: part of a partnership between Bank of America and Right Moves for Youth.
Volunteers work to make students financially literate, and their parents too.
That’s as Annuity, a financial consulting group, found 75% of teens aren’t confident in their personal finance knowledge.
But it's not just young people.
The group adds 25% of people across the country say they don’t have anyone to talk to about financial guidance.
All while Americans owed more than $800 billion in credit card debt at the beginning of last year.
Mariska Warren, with Bank of America, calls the lessons life-changing.
Ambassadors help break down money topics like saving, investments, and wealth building.
"Why do this?" said Warren. "Because it’s our heart and one of our missions at the bank is to give back to the community through financial literacy."
"We’re learning different tools to be able to do it through banking, doing it through Roths, doing it through stocks," Shawn Robinson listed.
She's Sharon's mom and participated in the parent seminar.
"What it has allowed me to do is to relearn financial literacy in a way that I can communicate with my daughter," Shawn explained.
And Shawn must be communicating well, because when we asked Sharon what she’s learning…
"Take care of business for, like, bills and taxes and stuff, put a little to the side, and then you can have the rest for yourself, like spending," she said with a smile.