If you’re good with money, then it’s well worth your time to educate your children about money too. It’s especially important for teenagers, who may be earning some money of their own and be thinking about saving for college, to understand how to responsibly manage money.
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Teach Contentment
The majority of teenagers spend a lot of time on social media. All that time scrolling through Instagram is like looking at the greatest hits of other people’s lives. Seeing this apparent success can lead to teens making comparisons, and not always favorable ones. They might worry that their friends have more expensive holidays or are given cars as birthday gifts when they are not. Talk to your teens about this, and help them to learn to be content with what they already have instead of being concerned about what other people appear to have. If they’re happy with their lot, they’re a lot less likely to spend money they don’t have to keep up with their friends.
Set Up A Bank Account
Teenagers should have a bank account of their own, even if only a basic young person’s account. Whether they’re earning money from chores, an allowance, or from a Saturday job, they need somewhere to keep their money that is safer than a piggy bank. Having a bank account of their own takes money management to a new a level, and helps to prepare them for handling their own money as they get older.
Save For College
It’s never too early to get teenagers to think about saving for college. Encourage your teens to start thinking about the money they will need for college (or to move out, if they don’t want to go to college) and how they will earn it. Remind them that even with help to pay fees, they will need to pay for living expenses, nights out, and ways to stay in touch with loved ones like Digicel recharge.
Warn About Credit Cards
Once your teenager turns 18, they will begin to be approached by credit card companies, trying to sign them up while they’re still naive about how credit card debt works. College students are a key target, as they’re most likely to use cards they can’t afford. Make sure you teach your teenagers about credit cards and the risk of using them, or they could be a victim of unscrupulous credit card firms and end up in serious debt.
Budget
Get your teenagers on a budget as soon as you can. Teenagers likely to be glued to their mobile devices all day every day anyway, so a simple budgeting app on their phones could be an ideal option. Get your teenagers into the habit of budgeting their income as soon as possible, even if their income is still only small from doing chores at home. Keeping track of your incomings and outgoings is a good habit to get into for later life, and budgeting is an essential life skill.