Last week, I helped a young man working to acquire his Eagle Scout status by mentoring him through the “Personal Financial Management Merit Badge Workbook”, which is just one part of many steps to which a Boy Scout has to complete in order to obtain his Eagle Scout recognition. Through this mentoring process I helped explain the natures of creating a spending plan budget, saving, investing for the future, the time value of money, compound and simple interest, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, life insurance, CDs, bank loans, business loans, mortgages, understanding the annual percentage rate (APR), credit cards, debit cards, elimination of debt, financial goal setting, and most of all financial prudence through personal responsibility.