Parenting isn’t easy and it seems like there are endless lessons to teach your kids in order to fully prepare them for adulthood. Teaching your teenager about the importance of money management will have a lasting positive impact on their future. Here are five financial lessons you can implement into your parenting:
Always Be Setting a Good Example
It’s no secret that children learn by example and often take after their parents’ actions. One of the biggest impressions you can leave on your teenagers is to show them the right way to manage money. Be a good example for them by budgeting, identifying wants vs needs, contributing to your savings account and other smart financial choices.
Avoid Impulse Buying at All Costs
As your children enter their teenage years, it’s normal for them to want the latest technology or clothing to keep up with their peers. The worst thing you can do is buy them what they ask for on the spot, as this behavior encourages impulse buying. Instead, let them wait it out for a week or two then revisit the purchasing decision.
Turn Their Free Time into a Part-Time Job
While schoolwork, extra-curricular activities and social events can make high school a busy time of life, there’s a lot of extra free time than other stages of life. Between summer break, winter break and free weekends, part-time jobs are a great way to stay busy and make some extra cash. Encouraging your teenager to get a job will teach them life lessons like leadership, time management, responsibility, working with others and so much more.
Help Them Open Their Own Bank Account
Once your teenager is getting an income from their part-time job, they’ll need a place to put their money. Now’s the perfect time to help them open a bank account so they get used to having that responsibility. They can even begin contributing to a savings account down the line.
Have Them Download a Budgeting App
Teenagers love technology, so why not encourage financial education while they’re on their smartphone? There are tons of budgeting and money management apps out there. Once they are making an income from their part-time job, they’ll have to learn how to be smart with their spending. Apps like this can give them reminders, provide helpful tips and simplify their overall budgeting experience.
The teenage years are packed full of important life lessons and including proper money management in those lessons is extremely important. For more information on all things finance or to learn about the services we offer, contact us today!
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