Teenagers are not easy to handle, especially during their high school years. Sitting down and talking to them about what the future holds seems pretty impossible, especially when they don’t want to listen. But there are some really important financial and everyday lessons that you should try to teach your kids before they leave the nest and go to college. It does not need to be a 6 hour lecture, but make sure you are filling your kids’ heads with the right information to get them through those 4 years and whatever their future may hold.
Encourage Personal Finance Classes – If your child’s high school offers a personal finance class as an extra credit or extracurricular class then you should definitely encourage them to take it. Although it may not see as fun as something like a drawing class, it will be very beneficial to them in the long run.
Credit Cards – I know several people who go through college on their parents credit cards and never fully understood how much money they were spending. Get your child a credit card before they leave for college and teach them how to use it. This might sound dumb, but with so many young people graduating with huge amounts of credit card debt, a little simple learning couldn’t hurt. Teaching them the basics about how to pay it off, interest, etc. can help a great deal. Also, if you are worried about your child having too much allowance on their credit card, call the bank and get their limit lowered to an amount that you deem acceptable.
Importance of a Job and Saving – Many people do not work a job before they head off to college. All high school students love their summers off, but I think it is extremely important for younger generations to be responsible for going to work and saving some of their paycheck. Some teenagers love having a job and their own money, while others struggle to actually go to work. They will learn the importance of money because it is their own. It is easy for teenagers to spend their parent’s money and not think much about it, but when it is coming out of your own checking/savings account it is a whole different story.
Paying for Some of Their Own Things – This doesn’t mean you should stop paying for everything for your child, but making them realize that money really doesn’t grow on trees is really important. If you don’t like the idea of making your child pay for things when they are still young, pay them back at the end of each month and have them put that money in their savings. This way you are helping them save and teaching them the value of money.
College is overwhelming enough for a freshman without understanding their personal finances. It is so easy to get caught up in spending and develop bad spending habits early on that soon you could be paying to help your child get themselves out of serious debt. Informing them about some basic financial information can help them understand the importance behind money. In these tough economic times, it is best to be prepared for as much as possible.
Photo: Álvaro Daniel González Lamarque
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Tags: Credit card, Debt, Finance, High school, home, Money Management, Personal finance, Saving, teen
