On Tuesday, to celebrate BECU’s 80th anniversary, BECU remained closed until 1 p.m. as a part of its “Closing for Good” initiative. While BECU was closed, more than 1,300 employees visited 21 high schools around the Puget Sound to lead financial reality fairs with more than 3,000 students.

In Renton, more than 190 students participated in the financial reality fairs at Lindbergh and Renton High Schools.

The Financial Reality Fairs gave Lindbergh and Renton High School students the opportunity to make real-world financial decisions and see the impacts they make. During the fairs, the students were assigned a job and income, and then attempted to balance their household budget while managing living expenses for transportation, clothing, cell phone, food and more.

“We want to make sure that the teens in our community understand personal finances and are prepared as they enter the next stage of their lives,”

Sara Moorehead, BECU Vice President of Cooperative Affairs, said in a press release. “The students who participated were highly engaged in learning these life skills in a ‘learn by doing’ environment.”

Recent studies indicate that American teens aren’t financially literate and Debt.com ranks Washington 45th in the nation in overall financial literacy.

These teens are joining an adult population that already struggles with managing finances – more than half of American’s do not have rainy-day savings to cover three months of unanticipated financial emergencies according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

-from a press release