Teaching Teens About Money

I strongly believe that you should start teaching your teens about money and financial responsibility during the high school years. At the very least, you should lay the foundation for further discussions about money. I’m not suggesting that you share information about your specific finances with your teens. Instead I am suggesting the following:

1. Teach teens that monthly bills need to be paid before you can spend money on the extras. You need to pay for the necessities before you can buy new clothes, right?

2. Teach them about how one creates a budget. Refer to #1 and have them decide how much of their allowance and money earned from other sources should go toward spending and savings. This brings me to #3.

3. It is critical for teens to learn about saving money. Explain how this gives all of us a cushion for
times when we are low on money.

4. Consider making your teen’s allowance contingent on chores if you give your teen an allowance.

5. Talk to them about the importance of identifying financial goals. If, for example, they want a new skateboard then help them figure out how much money they need to allocate to the skateboard fund and also how frequently.