We Envision Today’s Youth

§   Making decisions based on their Uniqueness and not from outside influences and/or distractions

§   Exploring traditional and non-traditional ways of building wealth

§   Transforming their MindSet from chasing money to a MindSet of Wealth

§   Discovering their dreams, their passion, and their personal plan

• To teach money management, consumer education, and wealth building

• To serve as a complete resource of financial intelligence to for all youth

• To empower youth to control their financial destiny

• To provide the understanding of wealth as a birthright, a natural gift of choice

• To reveal the Uniqueness in every individual and prove the strength in self

• To promote economical strengthening throughout the nation, one young mind at a time

• To instill an unshakable MindSet of Wealth® to pursue wealth and chase not money

• To bridge youth to the financial world that surrounds them

Our Story

Kidz 4 Money evolved from a project, A.E.I.O.U.biz, to teach financial literacy to adults, which began in 2003; when it was discovered that this information applied earlier in a person’s life was more effective. 

The founder of Kidz 4 Money, Lattice Hardwick, initiated the development of a tool to combat the generations of a stagnate financial education, which statistically degenerates every ten years.  In 2007, a MindSet of Wealth was introduced in a young adult series of workshops throughout the Metro Atlanta area.  The success of these workshops lead to a MindSet of Wealth book series for both a broader reach and lasting lesson, later in 2007.  The purpose of a MindSet of Wealth is to deliver recognizable lessons of building wealth and instilling wealth as a life skill and a natural goal. 

The combined experiences of Lattice Hardwick, 9 years in the mortgage industry, and Garry Lawrence (co-founder), 12 years in the auto sales industry, revealed a dangerous pattern of personal finance mishap.  Together they examined the widespread—ugly relationship between people and money.  The research stretched to the industrial revolution, slavery, and abroad with perspectives in economical psychology, behavior economics and consumerism.

Discovered in this investigation were common threads of financial suicide that crossed cultural lines; often an adult battle of wants versus needs, or practicality versus fantasy. 

In 2004, Ms. Hardwick feared the possible bursting of the real estate bubble and wrote a series of articles in her newsletter ‘Money News’ to further educate and warn her readers.  

Together, the duo recognized that with offering lessons in don’ts (what not to do) there must be a lesson of what to do (what actions to take).  This lead to the question: Why do some ordinary people find wealth and others do not?  For this, the sights were turned to the self-made wealthy.  Lessons were taken from success stories of: Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Sheila Johnson, Robert Johnson, Robert Townsend, Damon John, and others. 

Building wealth is a sure fire approach to combating the mediocrity of the financial system, whose path looks only towards financial responsibility of its citizens.  A MindSet of Wealth instills the venture of dreams as they relate to one’s core values based on one’s Uniqueness, making every lesson a personal lesson, custom fit to the individual. 

In 2008, Ms. Hardwick founded the first Financial Teen Summit in 7 libraries, a summit that concentrated on building wealth by building character.  The objective of the summit is to introduce young adults to a stronger confidence and sense of self in building wealth.  This summer, 2010, Kidz 4 Money along with Bank of America will be presenting its 3^rd Annual Financial Teen Summit in 20 locations throughout Metro Atlanta.  In 2011, Kidz 4 Money looks to expand its efforts in a summer camps and several other highly effective learning programs.