Yesterday David and I spent an hour with the Estelline High School seniors in their finance class discussing everything from loans, balancing a checkbook, the economy, credit cards, and any other questions they wanted to ask. It was a good learning experience for them as they prepare to head out into the "real world". We engaged the group by giving them gift certificates whenever someone answered a question correctly or asked a question and contributed to the discussion. This certainly perked everyone's interest!
So how can you help your kids understand financial management? In a nut shell, you need to prepare them at an early age and continue teaching them through their teen years.
Kids as young as three are capable of understanding what money is and how to save to buy things at a later date. For small children, have them save for short term things such as a toy; a year is too far out for small children to comprehend, have them save for a couple months and they will celebrate the success when they see what they have accomplished. Our Super Eagles Kids Club (ages 12 and under) helps with this accomplishment by offering the child a special prize when they reach savings goals. It's a great way for them to have fun while developing good saving habits.
Pre-teens and teenagers need to understand the concept of saving money and not buying every "want" that comes their way. Distinguishing between a want (something you think you have to have) and a need (something that is necessary to survive, such as food) is important as well as having some sort of simple budget in place to understand money coming in and money going out. Balancing a checkbook is essential to good financial management also. By keeping track of deposits and what checks and debit card transactions are taken out of the account each month, the better chance of staying away from the dreaded overdraft charges. Remember; just because you have check blanks, doesn't necessarily mean you have money in your account! Online banking is a great way to keep on top of your accounts and its available to you 24/7.
Kids learn by watching how adults handle their money. Be a good teacher and talk to your kids about good money management. These lessons will stay with them long after they've left the nest.
Lisa, Marketing
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