How to Teach Teens Financial Responsibility

Did you know that they don’t really have a curriculum for financial literacy in place in our education system? Sure they teach a few basic concepts, but not much. What does that mean for our kids? Well, that means that unless we are teaching them at home, they are basically getting sent out into the world with little knowledge and possibly a credit card or two. Before they know it, they are swimming in debt and calling back home for rent money. So how do we set up our kids for financial success in life and help them learn about how to make and manage their finances? After some thought, I came up with 4 areas of money management I thought were at the core of being financially literate.

This conversation is sponsored by Current. All opinions are my own. 

How to Teach Teens Financial Literacy

Earn– Teens need to be taught how to appreciate money. What better way to teach them than by making them work hard for it? We as adults need to earn our money, why shouldn’t they? If we give them everything and don’t make them work for it, they will never learn to put in a good work ethic and get rewarded in return. To help your teen learn to work, create a list of responsibilities or chores that they can complete, in order to earn their own spending money. By working hard and earning their money, your teen will feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in themselves.

Spend– Our teens are getting to the age where they want to start being considered as adults, but they’re not quite there yet. They are looking for ways to be treated and feel like grown-ups. By letting them spend their money the way they want, they feel that sense of freedom. They can go out with friends and buy the things that they like. It also gives them the opportunity to learn how to budget their money. They will need to keep track of the amount they have available and make sure to not go over and get stuck without funds. If they need more, they will have to earn it.

Save– It’s not only a good idea to teach our teens how to earn, budget and spend their money but how to save it also. It’s bad practice for anyone to spend all their money as fast as they earn it. Everyone should have some kind of savings. We need to be sure that we are teaching and encouraging our teens to save a part of the money they earn. It might be a good idea to chat with them about long-term goals and wants. Help them plan for the future and save their funds for short term and long term financial goals. This will help them learn how to be financially responsible consumers.

Donate– Teens are naturally self-centered. Just like little children. It’s our job to teach our kids to think outside of themselves. They need to learn that there is a world of people out there and some of them are worse off. A great way to get teens to look outside of themselves is by having them do service for others. Another great way is to have them learn to donate. Help them pack up some of their unused or unwanted things to give to charity. You can even help set them up to donate some of the money they earn to a charity. Giving back will help others in the community and will help your teen learn to be charitable and think of others.

Teaching our teens how to be financially literate seems like a big, daunting job. Luckily for us parents, technology has come a long way. Now everything we need to help our kids learn to be financially successful can be found in one convenient product, Current. Current is a debit card for your teen that can be managed by teens and their parents through an app. The Current app helps teens more effectively manage their money in full view of their parents by offering limits, tracking and controls.

One of the more exciting and unique aspects of Current is the ability to set up chores for your teens. You can place dollar amounts on items that need to be completed. Once the chore has been completed, the child marks it as done in their app and then waits for approval and for you to pay them for their work.

Current also has a great savings program for your teen. You can help your teen set goals for something they want to be saving towards in the app. Then, after their goal amount is set, you can turn on the feature to round up the debit card purchases and place the change into savings. Your teen can watch as their savings grow and they get closer to hitting their goals.

Your teen can also keep track of where their money is going and what they are spending it on through the Current app. Whenever they make a purchase, it keeps tabs on how much they spent and where they spent it at. This helps them be cognizant of where their funds are going and how much they have left.

Setting up the account and navigating the app is super easy. You can link your bank straight to the app and transfer funds within seconds. Your teen can request money for things like school dances or for new shoes and you no longer need to go to the bank to get cash. With the simplicity of Current, your child can begin to manage their own finances and become financially responsible adults all under your watch and direction. Let’s raise this generation to be financially responsible, let Current help do the work.

What financial advice do you think is important to teach teens?