Learning to wisely handle money can be a challenging task, but if you don’t you can create a mess with your finances that may haunt you all your life. That is one major reason why, as a parent, you need to begin teaching your kids to handle money well by the time they’re in their teenage years.
Rabbi Shmuley presciently shares on Oprah.com, “The recent global economic crisis demonstrates to people that their current way of living is not sustainable”. Today’s culture offers a vast amount of resources and information that can help your teen be financially responsible, while still enjoying their themselves.
Shaping Their Natural Habits
If you have ever noticed you don’t have to teach a teenager that it’s fun to spend money, or that they can spend endless amounts of money on virtually anything. Spending money is a natural ability for teens, but spending smart is something you have to teach them. Michele Lerner of dailyfinance.com offers 8 tips to teach your teens smart money habits.
1. Start with a game! Check out sites like Learn4Good.com or PracticalMoneySkills.com.
2. Put them on a monthly budget a monthly budget.
3. Pay them for choosing to save. Offer to match some or all of an amount their willing to save up for a special item.
4. Give them a clothing allowance.
5. Teach them the art of “thrift” shopping.
6. Give them a budgeting project like planning a vacation, or cost comparing new cell phones.
7. Talk about college financing and use the opportunity to talk about investing, FICO scores, loans, etc.
8. Warn them about identity theft.Handling money wisely isn’t just about spending, but also about protecting their finances and their credit.
The Beginning of Self-Reliance
Times are certainly different than they used to be. College has become more available to people and as a result of an increasingly educated society it can be more difficult for new college grads to find great jobs right after graduation. So learning a solid work ethic and the value of a job is tremendously important. Finance columnist for FoxBusiness.com writes,
“Summer jobs allow teenagers to dip their toes into the working world, earn a paycheck and learn some money management techniques. These are all valuable life skills, but a tough sell to teenagers looking to enjoy their three months of freedom.”
If your teen has a love of shopping, encourage them to get a job at the mall in a store they love to shop at. Show your teen how much money they could save if they use coupon codes for Nordstrom on top of an employee discount if they worked there too.
Getting Creative
Shake it up a bit and make the learning fun by getting a little creative. Wayne Parker of fatherhood.about.com shares how he and his wife help teach their teens.
“We take Mom and Dad’s gross monthly income and convert it to Monopoly money and then go through the family budget with the children. This helps them to see how Mom and Dad budget and how much things cost in the real world.”
Teach your kids to take advantage of sales and their internet intelligence. With a little searching they could find promos and deals for things they want and save money up for future shopping.
More Money Tips
A few extra tips for teaching your teen about money teaching your teen about money from parenting.kidspot.com are:
-Teach them not to “blow” all their money all the time.
-Teach them to save!
-Learn to read the fine print.
-Be a good role model!
-Teach them to set goals.
Teaching your kids smart money habits is so important. Not only will it serve them well through their life, but they
will pass on the wisdom to their kids too!
