Omaha 4th-grader creates financial literacy app

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Many of us use our smartphones to scroll through social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twiter, you know, the works.

But Atharv Manayamkath wanted to change that.

”The app is to teach youngsters about finance because financial literacy is not covered anywhere in detail.”

Yes, he said youngsters but he’s only nine years old himself.

“My dad used to teach me about financial knowledge so then I got interested in financial knowledge and I used my coding skills to create this app.”

Atharv was eager to learn more about the financial realm but noticed it wasn’t a topic covered in school.

That’s what inspired him to create Finwizz, a pocket guide to finance. The app, available on the Google Play store, consists of five main topics surrounding finances.

“Budgeting, savings, spending, debt, and investing.”

Each of the topics takes you to a lesson as well as a game and quizzes. Atharv’s favorite is the savings game where you collect coins.

“Now he has to show how many coins he can collect to save more,” said Dad.

“And you can also stop whenever you want,” said Atharv.

His dad, Sandeep Anand leans towards the investing tab.

“We have even the real-world apps. So from people, you can learn from here and then automatically go to learning the basics. And then they can go and directly start investing from here like you have Sofi and Fidelity,” said Anand.

Atharv’s journey in coding and creating this app started last year during the height of the pandemic. His parents enrolled him in BYJU’S FutureSchool, an one-on-one online program for students ages 6-18 in things like math, coding, and music.

Right now, Atharv isn’t sure what the future holds for his app or what he wants to do with his skills but his parent are proud he’s following his passion.

“Me and my wife are particular that he should be excited to do all of this. We don’t want to force him into anything, so we just expose him and see if he likes it and takes it. So that’s how we see it. It makes us happy when we see him happy and excited,” said Anand.

Atharv hopes this app helps other kids his age start asking questions about finances and teaches them how to be responsible with their money growing up.

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