Teaching kids how to save, one penny at a time

August 24, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Louis Peters shows the children how filling a piggy bank with pennies can add up. Eagle photos by Paula Katinas

Share this:

“A penny saved is a penny earned,” as the old saying goes. Louis Peters agrees with that theory wholeheartedly.

Peters, a licensed insurance agent in Bay Ridge, decided to bring that advice to life in a unique way on a recent afternoon.

That’s why pedestrians walking by the AMP Insurance Brokerage office at 7716 Fifth Ave. on the afternoon of Aug. 21 found a curious sight: a mountain of pennies on top of a table on the sidewalk outside of the office.

Peters had poured $100 worth of pennies onto the table and then placed dozens of tiny pastel-colored piggy banks next to the pile of loose change and encouraged children to take the pennies and fill up the piggy banks.

“Each bank holds $2.24. It’s a good way to teach kids how to save money,” Peters told the Brooklyn Eagle. Peters is the husband of Alice Peters, business manager of EBrooklyn Media, which owns the Brooklyn Eagle and several other newspapers.

People should always try to save money for a rainy day fund, according to Peters, who specializes in health insurance. Even putting away 50 cents a day can do a lot of good over the long term, he said. At one percent compound interest, that 50 cents a day can add up to an astounding $12,000 after several years.

To the kids, however, compound interest held no interest for them.

To them, the pennies and the piggybanks were part of a delightful game. Three youngsters standing in front of the table looked like they were racing each other to see who could fill the piggy bank first.

The children got to keep their newly filled piggy banks.

To help draw attention to his sidewalk lesson about the importance of saving, Peters had a clown named Binbin blowing up balloons and handing them out to passersby. There was also dance music playing over a sound system.

It drew quite a crowd.

For more information, call Peters at 212-518-6317.