It may look like just a kids' game, but Saa’Nai Bryant says the financial simulation she was participating in was teaching her one of the most important lesson she'll ever learn.

“Working off of this game, it’s like Life and Monopoly put together," she said. “How to save, how to save and then budget.”

Many 15-year-olds are about spending money, buying things and living in the now, but Bryant and her friends say they are starting to learn and understand the importance of saving and investing, not only in the future, but in their day-to-day lives right now.

Instructor Lars Doebler said learning those lessons is more important than ever before.

“To plan with your income coming in and your expenses going out," he said. “Why that’s more important nowadays is because inflation and everything has been more expensive that you need to plan for these kinds of expenses even more.”

That's why Doebler has shifted from financial consulting to education, and it appears to be paying off. 

“You can lean on people, but not too much," Bryant said. “Once you lean on too many people, they kinda lean off of you, so you’ve got to lean on yourself and lean on people just a little bit.”

One person she does lean on for advice is her father, Harold Bryant, Jr., who says he is no stranger to finance.

He was talking dollars and common sense to all his children long before the state made it a high school requirement. And he said he thinks it should start even sooner than that. 

“I think financial literacy needs to be a core course,” he said. “Because, say a kid learns that in elementary school, by the time they get to high school they probably know what career path they want to take and then they won’t waste a lot of time.”

His daughter said she certainly isn't wasting time getting her finances in order to weather any financial storm that may come her way. 

“Him playing a part, teaching me about stocks, crypto and putting my money more towards not what I want, but what I need," she said