Feb 04, 2016

NGPF Podcast: Barbara O'Neill, Personal Finance Researcher, Educator, Trainer and Writer at Rutgers Cooperative Extension (NJ)

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Thanks to Barbara O’Neill of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Program for joining me recently on the NGPF podcast show. Barbara has had an amazing career serving as educator, researcher, writer, trainer and I am sure that I am leaving stuff out! Most recently, she used her networking prowess to place NJ atop the standings in the NGPF Q&A Forum Challenge and has appeared as a Featured Teacher in the NGPF Blog and also received an award from NGPF.

Here is Barbara’s life work, in her own words:

In my 37 years with Rutgers Cooperative Extension, I have taught almost 30,000 adults. I’ve taught my undergraduate Personal Finance course for juniors and seniors at Rutgers University for 10 years and reached almost 200 students and helped make them “Money Smart.” I have also indirectly impacted thousands of New Jersey K-12 students by providing training for hundreds of teachers annually at our Financial Education Boot Camps that combine content and learning activities.

Listen to this podcast to hear Barbara’s insights on:

  • The differences between teaching adults and college students
  • What personal finance teachers need to be more confident instructors
  • Harnessing Twitter to expand your knowledge base and generate lesson ideas
  • The wonders of compound interest (her favorite personal finance subject!)
  • Her plan for improving financial education in this country

Enjoy!

Resources mentioned:
NGPF Forum
Advantage Publications (Cardboard Calculator)
Details
0:00~1:37 – Intro
1:37 ~3:20 – Background on Barbara
3:20~4:50 – A Student that benefited from Barbara
4:50~6:37 – Money Lessons you learned at a young age
6:37~7:46 – On Barbara’s Transition from talking to Adults to talking to Undergraduates
7:46~9:36  – Biggest Issues/Recurring Themes that Barbara saw in adults
9:36~10:58 – What do you say is the best way to repay debt?
10:58~13:56 – How can your Twitter help others?
13:56~19:13  – Barbara’s Bootcamps + What do teachers need/want to be more confident in the classroom
19:13~20:46 – How do you decide when you should put in new resources?
20:46~22:33 – Favorite Online Resources
22:33~28:07 – Topic you are most interesting in (Compound Interest)?
28:06~32:06 – How would you make the country financially literate?
32:06~34:28 – Why do you think teachers don’t have one set curriculum?
24:28~35:34 – Books/Movies Barbara Recommends?
35:34~36:14 – Outro

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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