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"Asset Class"
Real World Financial Strategy for the Next Generation

You have big ambitions for your life. Don’t let a lack of financial strategy hold you back. Most people graduate knowing how to work hard, but not how to make their money work for them. It’s time to upgrade your toolkit.

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Asset Class is a free financial strategy bootcamp designed to equip high school students with an owner’s mindset rather than a consumer’s perspective. Led by a veteran CFO, the eight-week program hosted at the Monterey Public Library teaches participants how to evaluate the true cost of time and the return on investment for major life decisions like college.

 

Students explore critical concepts such as labor economics, debt management, and the tax advantages of owning assets versus renting out one's time. Through practical activities, the curriculum demystifies credit scores, contract fine print, and the mechanics of wealth building to foster long-term independence. Ultimately, the course provides a strategic blueprint for young people to achieve financial freedom and navigate the modern economy with leverage.

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Your future is waiting. Let’s build the blueprint.

Details

Time & Location

WHO: High School: Freshman to  Seniors ready to level up.

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WHEN: Tuesdays, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM (Interactive session + open discussion).

 

Starts Tuesday, March 3, 2026, running weekly for 8 weeks.

 

WHERE: Solarium Room, Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940.

 

COST: FREE (Space is limited). 

 

Use link above to reserve your spot. 

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The Blueprint You'll Gain

  • Owner’s Mindset: Shift from thinking like an employee to thinking like a strategist.

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  • Mastering Leverage: Learn how to use credit as a tool for growth, not a burden.

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  • Smart ROI Decisions: How to evaluate big investments—like college or a car—to ensure they pay off for you.

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  • The Value of You: Learn to calculate the true worth of your time and maximize your potential.

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  • Building Momentum: Understanding how investing creates freedom over time.

The 8 Week Plan

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DESIGN YOUR FUTURE. OWN YOUR OUTCOMES. This plan provides the "rules of the game" so students can operate with leverage rather than being passive participants in the economy.

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Week 1: The Time Value of Money & Opportunity Cost

  • The Shift: It’s not about "compound interest" for retirement; it’s about valuing your current time correctly.

  • The Lesson: Time is a non-renewable resource. Every hour you spend has an "opportunity cost."

  • The Metric: If you spend $100 today, you aren't just spending $100; you are spending the $1,000 that money could have become in 30 years.

  • Activity: The Hourly Rate of Your Life. We calculate the true cost of a purchase in hours of labor (e.g., "That smartphone isn't $1,000; it’s 66 hours of working at a coffee shop. Is that trade worth it?").

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Week 2: You, Inc. — Personal P&L and Burn Rate

  • The Shift: Budgeting isn't about restriction; it's about "Runway."

  • The Lesson: Structure your life like a business. Revenue (Income) minus OpEx (Life costs) equals Net Income.

  • The Metric: Runway. If you lost your income today, how many months could you survive? This teaches resilience over consumption.

  • Activity: Calculate Your Break-Even. How much must you earn just to exist? Everything above that provides options; everything below that creates dependency.

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Week 3: Education ROI — Don't Buy a Bad Product

  • The Shift: College isn't a magical ticket; it’s a capital investment.

  • The Lesson: Analyzing the "Cost of Goods Sold" for a degree. Does the degree provide enough lift in future earnings to justify the upfront cost and lost 4 years of wages?

  • The Metric: Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) for different majors.

  • Activity: The Student Loan Truth. We look at an amortization schedule to show how paying the minimum on a $50k loan means paying $80k over time. That $30k difference is evaporated freedom.

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Week 4: Credit Scores — The "Obedience Score"

  • The Shift: A high credit score doesn't mean you are rich; it means you are a "profitable borrower" for banks.

  • The Lesson: How the system is designed to keep you on the payment treadmill. We discuss credit defense: having a high score so you aren't denied an apartment, without paying interest.

  • The Metric: The true cost of "low monthly payments" and "Buy Now, Pay Later" schemes.

  • Activity: The Car Lease Trap & Real-Time Cost Analysis. Analyzing a car dealership offer to expose manipulated numbers. We will also leverage AI tools to build a simple on-the-fly calculator that reveals the real cost of a purchase when scanning a phone.

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Week 5: Labor Economics — Renting vs. Owning

  • The Shift: W-2 employees are "renting" their time. Owners build equity.

  • The Lesson: Understanding the tax code hierarchy. Why labor is taxed the highest, and capital (investments/business) is taxed lower. The value of Earn & Learn. 

  • The Metric: Effective Hourly Wage. After commuting, clothes, and taxes, what are you actually taking home?

  • Activity: The W-2 Walkthrough. We look at a pay stub to see who gets paid first (the government, Social Security) before you get your cut.

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Week 6: Asymmetric Information — Reading the Fine Print

  • The Shift: The person with the most information wins.

  • The Lesson: Contracts, leases, and terms of service. Companies bank on you not reading or understanding the terms.

  • The Metric: Incentive Structures. Who benefits if I sign this? (e.g., Why is the bank pushing this specific credit card?)

  • Activity: Spot the Gotcha. Finding the hidden clauses in redacted rental agreements or cell phone contracts that are designed to extract value.

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Week 7: Investing as "Buying Freedom"

  • The Shift: Investing isn't about exotic cars; it's about buying your time back from the market.

  • The Lesson: When you own an index fund, you are the Capitalist. You profit from the labor of others and the innovation of companies. It is the only way to stop trading time for money.

  • The Metric: The Dividend/Yield vs. Inflation.

  • Activity: The Owner’s Portfolio. Designing a simple strategy where money works harder than the individual does.

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Week 8: The Exit Strategy (Capstone)

  • The Shift: Building a life where you have the upper hand.

  • The Lesson: Synthesizing the previous weeks into a philosophy of having the resources to walk away from a bad job or bad situation.

  • Activity: Mapping Independence Day. Students map out the exact age and financial metric at which they no longer have to trade time for survival.

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