Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2019 i Cobblestone American History and Current Events for Kids and Children

Cold, hard cash used to be the most accepted way to pay for goods and services. But it grew awkward to carry around heavy bags of coins. It also became dangerous. If money is stolen or lost, its value transfers to the new holder. As people accumulated large amounts of money, they wanted to keep it safe until they needed it. Banks were established to offer this service. Today, banks do much more than simply keep money safe. They are the backbone to providing “ways to pay” for consumers. A person who has a relationship with a bank can write checks and use a debit card. Checks, debit cards, and credit cards all are common ways to make purchases without requiring money to be exchanged at the actual time of…

U.S. banks do their banking with the Federal Reserve System. Known as the Fed, it is the central banking system of the United States. It consists of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. The Fed manages the nation’s monetary policy. That means it focuses on ways to make sure the economy stays healthy. It encourages steady employment rates. It makes sure banks are safe places for people to deposit their money. It controls the overall supply of money in circulation. It sets interest rates to help the economy. The Fed also collects and processes checks. It transfers funds electronically. It distributes and receives notes and coins. And it can loan money to banks and other financial institutions when needed. Congress founded the Federal Reserve in 1913. Before that, panicky depositors sometimes…

Penny for your thoughtsA pretty pennyMy two cents Turn up like a bad penny To have the penny drop Worth every penny Doesn’t have two pennies to rub togetherIn for a penny, in for a pound What are you thinking about? Very expensive or a large amount of money My opinion An unwanted thing or person that keepsshowing up To finally understand something after aperiod of confusion Something that is expensive but worth itsprice down to the last penny Has either little or no money to spend Seeing a course of action through to the end,no matter the cost…

“Never spend your money before you have it.”—Thomas Jefferson This advice sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Yet, it’s worth sharing. The practices of borrowing money and buying on credit have been around for centuries. Those options involve risk. Thomas Jefferson knew what he was talking about. He died with a lot of debt. He included this advice in a letter to his granddaughter in 1811. Maybe he wanted her to develop good money habits and avoid the problems he faced. Save first, then spend. That’s good advice for everyone!…

Cryptocurrencies have introduced a whole new way to think about money. In 2009, a mystery person or persons using the name Satoshi Nakamoto introduced bitcoins. They were the first of many cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies rely on a complex series of unregulated digital transactions. There’s no physical currency to hold—no coins or notes. There’s no central authority backing them up. They are computer files that are sent among users. A record of the transactions is kept in a blockchain, a networked computer tracking system. Although cryptocurrencies jumped in value a couple of years ago, their complex nature has prevented them from being widely adopted. —G.G.…

Understanding how credit cards work and how to read a credit card statement can help consumers make smart choices. Credit card companies send out monthly statements to their cardholders. A statement contains a rundown of activity on the card. It shows the previous balance on the card. It notes the total payments and credits and the total purchases and debits. It lists any fees, interest, or cash advances. The statement adds and subtracts each of those items to calculate a new balance for the month. The new balance is what the cardholder owes. In 2009, Congress passed the Credit CARD (Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure) Act. It was enacted to stop  hidden and abusive practices by credit card issuers. Issuers had not always been up front about their policies. They…

You Need • a birth certificate• a Social Security number• a parent or guardian who has a photo ID• some money for your first deposit• a pen It’s never too early to start saving toward your goals—whether it’s for something long-term such as college or short-term like a new phone. Here’s how to start your own bank account. 1. Choose a bank. Your parent or guardian can help with this. You can research banks’ terms as well. 2. Visit the bank with your parent or guardian. He or she will be the custodian for the account. The money in the account will be yours, but a custodian is responsible for acting on your behalf until you turn 18. 3. Talk with a banker at the bank. Ask questions about the…

You may not have many expenses right now. Expenses are things that cost money, such as a place to live. Or food to eat. Or heat and electricity. Most people take on the responsibility of paying personal expenses and bills as they grow into independent adult lives. Do you know how the things you rely on every day are paid for? Are you curious? Here’s a list of monthly expenses that can be used to create a personal budget. To make it interesting—and eye-opening—ask an adult to help you fill out the form based on his or her budget. Before you get started, keep this in mind: A good budget helps you make a plan to live within your means. What does that mean? Your combined monthly expenses, both fixed…

Here are a few interesting stories about money and its role in a historic land purchase, the creation of the Secret Service, and an international experiment. Golden Opportunity French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was waging war in Europe in the early 1800s. War costs an enormous amount of money. U.S. president Thomas Jefferson saw Napoleon’s financial difficulties as an opportunity. He hoped to buy part of the French territory located to the west of the United States. He sent an American delegation to Paris to negotiate with the French government. His diplomats traveled with a hefty sum—$3 million in gold. It weighed almost 10,000 pounds! The U.S. diplomats only hoped to buy New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta. They were astonished to discover that Napoleon was willing to sell the whole…

Money: Everybody Needs It Everybody needs money, but not everybody can use it wisely. Without money, you can’t buy things. If you’re not careful with your money, it will disappear before you know it. There are ways to obtain money, such as lotteries, games, bets, and work. Work is the best way to get money. Lotteries, games, and bets are not good ways. If you buy lottery tickets, you typically waste more money on tickets than you get. When you work, you’re actually doing something to earn your money rather than just waiting for it. How do you keep money? Save it toward an objective. Don’t be distracted by other cool things along the way. Don’t spend it on things that you don’t need. Once you have saved up your…

Rough chunks of gold have been a popular means of exchange since ancient times. Ancient peoples prized the shiny metal for its beauty and its rarity. Gold also is unusually durable. Unlike silver, another precious metal, it never tarnishes. Over time, small amounts of gold grew to have a high value. Using gold, traders could complete their business without having to transport heavy bags of money. Gold had one big drawback as a means of exchange. Before a rough lump of gold could be accepted as payment, its exact worth had to be determined. Weighing and checking each nugget for purity required time and patience. Then, around 550 b.c.e. the kingdom of Lydia, an area in present-day Turkey, produced the first gold coin. It was a piece of gold that…

When it comes to money matters, interest can be a friend and a foe. A Friend When you make a deposit in a savings account, the bank usually agrees to pay monthly interest to you as its customer. That payment of interest is in return for the bank’s ability to use the funds until you need the money back. Suppose you deposit $100 in a savings account and the bank’s annual interest rate was 1 percent. The bank would give you $1 at the end of a 12-month period—just for putting and keeping your $100 in the bank. A Foe On the flip side, if you borrow money, you typically pay interest to a bank or a lender. You agree to pay back the full amount of the loan and…

Some people believe that any kind of debt—whether it’s owing a friend $20 or charging thousands of dollars on a credit card—is bad. But it is almost impossible to live in today’s world without carrying some debt. The trick is to know how to make good decisions about debt. Taking on debt can be good if it is an investment in something that will grow in value or generate long-term benefits. For example, many people borrow money to pay for college, buy a house, or buy a car. Investing in those things can be good in the long run. Let’s start with paying for college. College costs a lot of money. But continuing an education after high school can offer better career opportunities. Landing a good job in a good…

Have you ever heard the phrase time is money? It means that time, like money, has value and should not be wasted. Benjamin Franklin, the man who offered lots of advice to Colonial Americans, helped to make this phrase popular in the mid-1700s, but its origins go deeper. It is one of many phrases related to money that have made their way into our everyday speech. Another interesting phrase is bread and butter. Today, bread and butter is often served as a side dish to a main meal. In simpler times, however, bread and butter might have served as an entire meal. It was inexpensive and easy to prepare quickly. People could survive on a meal of bread and butter. The phrase began to mean a person’s basic needs. From…

Can you solve this puzzle about the faces and features on U.S. currency? Feel free to check your pockets for money to help you with the answers. Answers on page 48. Across 1. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s portrait appears on this coin. 4. Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, appears on the reverse of the one-_____-dollar bill. 5. Benjamin _____’s portrait appears on the one-hundred-dollar bill. 6. The White House is on the reverse of the _____-dollar bill. 10. President Thomas Jefferson’s portrait appears on the two-dollar bill and this coin. 11. President Andrew _____’s portrait appears on the twenty-dollar bill. 12. Alexander _____’s portrait appears on the ten-dollar bill. 13. The U.S. Capitol appears on the reverse of the _____-dollar bill. 14.…