By: Sarah Summer
Financial literacy is often framed as a technical problem: teach children how to budget, introduce compound interest, explain stocks and bonds, and the next generation will be financially prepared. But Iris Wang, a Vice President of Portfolio Management for Asset Management Services, believes the issue runs deeper.
Wang has worked in the investment industry since 2008 and earned her Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2014. She is a senior member of the investment team responsible for setting asset allocation policy and making investment decisions for discretionary portfolios, strategic models, and unified managed account platforms. She also serves as a voting member on institutional investment and retirement plan committees within her organization.
Her professional focus is asset allocation, multi-sector portfolio construction, and investment decision-making. Yet in recent years, Wang has expanded her attention to an area rarely discussed in institutional finance: how early money experiences shape long-term financial behavior.
“Financial literacy isn’t about apps or allowances — it’s about how children form their relationship with money before they understand how best to use it,” Wang writes.
The observation reflects a broader perspective she developed after years of navigating markets and advising on portfolio strategy. In her professional role, Wang analyzes risk, diversification, and market behavior under stress. But as a mother of two sons, she began to notice how early emotional impressions of money form, and how powerful they can be.
Her children’s book, World of Money: What Is Money?, grew out of those family conversations. The book follows a character named Noah who discovers that money is more than something spent on everyday purchases. Through a time-travel narrative led by a golden coin named Midas, the story introduces children to the evolution of money, from barter systems to digital currency, while emphasizing foundational understanding rather than jargon.
According to Wang, the motivation behind the book was not to simplify investing strategies for children, but to address what she sees as a missing foundation in financial education.
“Money itself is just a symbol, which records value but doesn’t create value,” she explains.
That framing challenges the common perception of money as something inherently powerful or scarce in isolation. Instead, Wang positions money as a reflection of value created, exchanged, and shared within a society.
In her household, discussions about money are integrated into everyday life. When one son spent his allowance quickly without thinking about future needs, the conversation turned to planning and trade-offs. When another hesitated to spend even on items he genuinely wanted, the family discussed the purpose of spending and how money can be used to fulfill needs and goals. When the family saw a St. Jude Hospital flyer, they sold part of their holdings to donate and discussed how money can be shared to support others.
These experiences, Wang argues, illustrate that financial literacy is not solely about tactics. It is about developing a system of understanding that evolves over time.
She describes financial literacy as a structure resembling a skyscraper: practical skills, such as savings accounts and investment vehicles, are the higher floors, but they must rest on a foundation of conceptual understanding. Without clarity about what money represents, tools can feel abstract or disconnected.
Her own background reflects a global perspective. Wang holds a B.S. in Economics and International Business from China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing and a master’s degree in finance from Case Western Reserve University. She joined a national financial services firm in 2022 after building her career in asset management and institutional investing.
Growing up in China, she notes that questions about money and finance were often discouraged or avoided, particularly for young minds and girls. Years later, working in the U.S. investment industry, she revisited those early impressions and reconsidered how cultural context shapes financial confidence.
Her view is that emotional and psychological components of money are often overlooked in both investing and education. In professional markets, investor behavior during volatility frequently reflects fear, overconfidence, or scarcity thinking. In families, similar emotional responses can appear in spending habits, saving patterns, or avoidance of financial discussions altogether.
By addressing foundational beliefs about money early, Wang hopes to reduce the anxiety and confusion that many adults experience later.
World of Money: What Is Money? is the first installment in a planned six-book series. The initial titles target younger readers, while later books introduce more analytical and systemic perspectives for teens. The long-term vision includes educational resources, partnerships with schools and libraries, and broader conversations about how families approach financial education.
Rather than framing financial literacy as a checklist of tasks, Wang views it as a gradual process that integrates emotional awareness, an understanding of value, and real-world decision-making.
In a financial landscape increasingly shaped by digital assets, rapid information flow, and market volatility, her approach underscores a simple but often overlooked idea: financial behavior is shaped long before individuals encounter investment products.
By bringing institutional insight to family-level conversations, Wang is attempting to bridge a gap between professional finance and everyday financial understanding — starting not with spreadsheets, but with the question children often ask first: what is money, really?
Book:
https://www.amazon.com/World-Money-1-What/dp/B0FMNLRDZN
Website:
https://www.theworldofmoney.com
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice, nor does it replace professional financial advice, investment advice, or any other type of advice. You should seek the advice of a qualified financial advisor or other professional before making any financial decisions.
