Personal Finance - Find great tips to help your children!
What do our children really know about personal finance? Young children have it in their heads that parents have all the money in the world, that every time they see something they want Mom and Dad can get it for them. And I know because I am guilty of it we do we give in and buy them toy they don’t need. This teaches our kids nothing about personal finance this teaches them to be spoiled. Teenagers are another group of kids who have no concept of personal finance. I think they would have a better understanding when they get a job and a car. They will need to buy insurance and gas to get to their job. They might get a better understanding of their personal finance when they realize they can’t buy that new sweater or those new shoes because they need to save for gas money.
Having been in the banking industry I have seen kids come in that actually save their money you can tell they were talk a little about personal finance. I have also seen some at the other end of the spectrum that spend every last penny that had. These same kids might need to get loans some day and if they rack up to much debt it will be impossible. They need to learn about personal finance and how to save and invest for their future.
They could learn to budget their money. Less then 1/3 of teenagers know how to create a budget. And only 18% say they save because it is good to. More then 2/3 are willing to have their parents to teach them how money is made and how to manage it. Don’t just give kids an allowance, give them a budget. If you are planning a vacation give them a small amount of money and let them decide how to budget it. As the kids grow give them other budgets to manage like clothing money. This will allow them to plan how they will spend it. They will take an interest in their own personal finance because it will be something they want. This will also make them realize the prices for things. You will see this the next time you take them shopping. Instead of buying up those designer jeans they might go for the more economical less pricey but still fashionable pair. They will start to compare prices and become thrifty. I know some courses they could take on personal finance that will teach them some valuable tools for their future.
They will learn about investing, managing their money, the right time to buy and sell stock. how to save for college and how not to get into debt.. The class can also teach you to save for retirement. There is so much you can learn about personal finance online and from a financial advisor. The news is another way to learn about this, they have shows dedicated to personal finance and how not to make mistakes.
Of course every situation will be different but if we can make our children’s personal finance our business now before their spending is out of control or before they have absolutely no idea the value of a dollar.