According to a 2007 survey conducted by the Hartford Financial Services Group, most college students say they learn the most about personal financial matters from their parents. However, less than 50% of those students say their parents have made a consistent effort to teach them.
With credit card debt levels on the rise, helping your kids understand how money works is more important than ever before. Luckily, teaching your children how to manage their money the smart way isn’t hard. Here are a few tips:
Plant The Savings Seed Early On. From the time your children are in preschool, you can instill good savings habits. Show them that dropping change in a piggy bank once a week will allow them to keep tabs on their cash while it slowly adds up. This way the money stays within their sights and the savings lesson really hits home.
Bring Young Students To The Credit Union. By the time kids are in elementary school, they should have a savings account in which they deposit money on a fairly regular basis. This will help them learn responsibility as well as basic adding and subtracting skills.
Invite Your Preteens To Save. Remind your "tween" that saving money from birthdays or odd jobs can really add up. Your preteen can deposit these funds in a credit union savings account and have money for vacations, birthday presents for friends, or any other reason.
Assist Your Teen In Opening A Checking Account. Once your teenager has a part-time job, help him or her open a checking account. Teach your teen how to balance the new checking account using financial software or the old-fashioned checkbook. These skills may seem basic to you, but chances are your teenager hasn’t learned proper money management in school. Learning how to manage money before heading off to college – a.k.a. the land of the high-interest-rate credit card offer – is essential to warding off future debt problems for your child.
