A Philadelphia high school principal who wants his low-income students to become millionaires teaches them 3 core habits to build wealth

Courtesy of Aspira Inc of PA

Olney Charter School students, from left to right: Lana Resuello, Cheryl Wiltshire, Nathaniel Withers, Justino Bahamonde, and Marquis Merricks.

• A principal at a low-income charter school in Philadelphia leads a personal-finance program that helps students earn and manage money, MarketWatch reported.
• "The goal is that everyone in the class will be a millionaire at some time in their life," the teacher, Dan LaSalle, told MarketWatch.
• LaSalle focuses on three concepts to help students build wealth: live frugally, save 10% to 20% of your income, and invest in index funds.
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Once you start earning a paycheck, the path to wealth is clear: live below your means, and save and invest what's left over.

That's what Dan LaSalle, a high school teacher and assistant principal at Olney Charter School in north Philadelphia, teaches in his personal-finance program, MarketWatch's Steven Kutz reported.

High school students who participate in the first-of-its-kind program take on a campus job, from running an extracurricular club to tutoring, and earn up to $5,000 a year for their work.

"We're a low-income school. Some kids don't get allowances. Some are on food stamps and 100% get free lunches. With this program, kids can leave school with a few thousand dollars," LaSalle told MarketWatch.

The students also take three personal-finance courses and LaSalle helps them set up checking and savings accounts and invest in index funds through a custodial account.

"The stock market is the single greatest generator of wealth in human civilization," LaSalle told Business Insider of why he focuses on investing.

"Too many Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, cannot afford a $400 emergency, and will be unable to retire on time," LaSalle continued. "I cannot think of any way we could help people learn how to transform their own financial futures if they do not get paychecks, financial literacy, and the ability to practice banking at a young age."

The program started in 2015 after LaSalle was awarded a $15,000 teacher grant, but is now funded by individual, often anonymous donors. Its inaugural class was made up of just 30 students, most of whom had unbanked parents, Kutz reported. With a $100,000 fund for next year already locked down, LaSalle expects to enroll about 200 students.

"The goal is that everyone in the class will be a millionaire at some time in their life," LaSalle told MarketWatch. "It's a foreign concept to their families - many receive government assistance. But I teach them that you can come from humble beginnings, live frugally, invest as much as you can, save 10% to 20% of your paycheck, invest in low-cost ETFs - and become a millionaire."

One 16-year-old student, Marquis Merricks, called the program and his mentorship with LaSalle "a life-altering experience" that's given him the tools to save and invest and adopt a "millionaire mentality," he told MarketWatch. After blowing through his first paycheck, Merricks started splitting his paychecks into two: half goes into savings and half is for spending.

"The real test will be 10 years from now," LaSalle told MarketWatch. He plans to keep in touch with students after graduation and encourage them to move their savings and investments into Roth IRAs once they get to college.

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