Unfortunately, most teens are never exposed to the basics of personal finance and, therefore, learn the hard way. Many young adults find themselves in a financial ditch by their twenties, which makes it difficult to get out of, let alone get ahead of, the game. Ironically, many teens are actually interested in learning about personal finance, but their parents and high schools don’t provide sufficient instruction on the topic. According to the Charles Schwab 2007 Teens & Money survey, 89 percent of teens say that they want to learn how to invest their money to make it grow. However, even on college debt choices, many students defer those decisions to their parents and don’t fully understand how much income they will need to make after they graduate in order to the make the loan payments used for their education.
Start small
Ask your teens if they are interested in knowing more about personal finance and see what questions they have. Done right, the conversation can lead not only to a healthy financial future for them, but an interest that you can have in common during the teenage years. Don’t be afraid that you won’t know all the answers to their questions. Enjoy the process of finding out the answers together. Challenge your teen to participate, at least at some level, in family financial decisions.
Money Matters
Make it Count (www.moneymattersmakeitcount.com) is a program geared to educating teens on the important and unavoidable financial hurtles they will encounter through their teenage years into adulthood. Originally designed for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the site is now open to anyone with an interest in learning about the basics of budgeting, savings and investing, planning for college, credit and debt, and entrepreneurship. Fueled by the Charles Schwab Foundation and developed with the Boys & Girls Clubs, the site is making financial education appealing to teens ages 13-18 with fun, interactive activities and exercises.
Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of the Charles Schwab Foundation will be in Vancouver to speak to the Boys and Girls Clubs Youth Partnership Luncheon on October 16. Under her leadership, the Money Matters: Make it Count Program has impacted nearly 325,000 teens at approximately 1,700 Boys & Girls Clubs across the U.S. We recognize Carrie’s amazing work with this program and we are very fortunate to have Carrie take the time to visit our community. Follow Carrie’s lead and check out the Money Matters program. Your kids will thank you for it.
Mark S. Martel, CFP, is a local independent investment advisor and principal of Martel Wealth Advisors Inc. He can be reached at 360.694.9940.
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