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How to Teach Your Teens and Young Adults About Money
My children were required to take history,
BY BARBARA TROMBLEY, MBA, CPA
ne of my most frustrating issues with being
a parent is the lack of school education
regarding money and personal finance.
courses, but they were never required to take a class about personal finance. I would argue that this knowledge is just as important.
This oversight leaves the instruction about personal finance to parents, and many parents are not good with their own money, resulting in generational problems with financial matters.
How can we teach our kids to have good financial habits? What does that mean? Obviously, modeling good financial behavior is an obvious start. Have a budget and stick to it. Contribute regularly to a retirement plan. Do not be afraid to discuss money in front of your kids. Talk about your household income and household bills and how much of your paycheck goes to taxes, retirement sav- ings, and your emergency fund. Discuss vacations, how much they cost, and how you are saving for them.
One of my favorite ways to involve my children in money talks was to take them with me to the grocery store. I would show them how to shop for generic
items, compare unit costs and sizes of items, and use coupons. In general, we should take the stigma out
of money discussions and make spending and saving discussions easier to have. Discussions with your children
are not the only way to teach them about good financial prac-
tices. Here is a list of eight ways to teach good financial habits.
“Do not be afraid to discuss money in front of your kids.”
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MARCH 20, 2020
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