Who says it’s only adults doing important things in this world? Sometimes being young means having a fresh perspective—a new way to look at problems and solutions. Young people all over the world have good things to offer, in inventions, technology, medicine, economics, art, business. Just take a look at some of these whiz kids. And remember, kids also have spiritual gifts to offer. Paul told the very young man Timothy, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:12)
Next Stop, Wall Street
Are you smarter than a sixth grader? Some economics students from top colleges proved they weren't. At least, they weren’t smarter than this group of sixth graders.
Dave Carlson's sixth-grade students beat every college investment club in a stock market contest. The young people couldn’t win the contest because they weren’t in college, but they did win bragging rights for a great performance.
The group called Carlson's Math Minions selected an assortment of investment stocks that gained almost 22 percent over the course of the competition. A college group called McIntyre Investment Institute won the $5,000 contest. Their stocks gained just 18.5 percent.
How did the Math Minions do it? The students from Oak Grove Lutheran School in Fargo, North Dakota, picked stocks used by a company called
Motif Investing. For $9.95, Motif Investing allows people to buy bundles of stocks based around an investment idea.
The Minions’ investment idea began with familiarity and popularity. They picked companies they knew about and liked. After all, if they knew and liked those companies, that was a good indicator that other people did too. The kids researched the companies. Then, together, the team chose companies with good financial track records. Their choices included Starbucks, Netflix, Under Armour, Amazon, and Google.
Motif Investing’s founder Hardeep Walia liked their idea. He bought some of the stock motif they created.
“It made me a lot of money,” he says.
Mr. Walia traveled from his home in California to meet the sixth-grade students. He was impressed with their thinking skills, and with their 22% increase!
“You guys crushed it,” he told the class.
