Kayden Samuel, a 17-year-old senior at Forest Grove High School in Oregon, has developed a free personal finance app called MontoEdu that is now used by more than 5,000 people across over 10 countries. The app, which Samuel built independently, offers over 40 beginner lessons on topics ranging from budgeting and saving to credit and investing, with progress-saving features so users can learn at their own pace. Its significance is heightened by a new Oregon law, passed in 2023, that requires high school students to complete a half-credit personal-finance course for graduation, starting with Samuel's class, the class of 2027.
Samuel created MontoEdu for individuals managing money for the first time, such as teens receiving their first paycheck or adults who never learned financial basics. "We spend years learning subjects in school, but a lot of students graduate without knowing how to manage their own money," Samuel said. The app is available in multiple languages and includes a built-in translation tool, making it accessible to non-English speakers. It also features calculators for savings, interest, and loans, plus a stock market game for practice trading with fake money.
The need for such tools is underscored by a 2025 FINRA Investor Education Foundation survey of over 25,000 adults, which found that only 27% could answer at least five of seven financial-literacy questions correctly—a figure largely unchanged since 2021. This means nearly three out of four adults struggle with concepts like interest rates and inflation. While Oregon's new requirement will help future graduates, it does not address adults who have already completed school, prompting Samuel to design MontoEdu for both audiences. "A lot of people don't realize how much they don't know about money until they're actually making financial decisions," Samuel said. "By then, even a small mistake can end up costing them."
The app's practical impact is illustrated by users like Aditi Sharma of Massachusetts, who completed the budgeting lessons and then reviewed her own expenses. She identified underused subscriptions, canceled two, and redirected $20 per month into the savings calculator to grow her emergency fund. Samuel plans to continue adding lessons through his final year of high school and intends for MontoEdu, available at montoedu.com, to remain free permanently. "It's great to see how many people are using the platform, but what matters most to me is whether they're actually learning something they can use," Samuel said. "Even if someone just learns how to avoid a credit card fee or make a better budget, that's something that can help them for years."
