A few days ago, my local paper ran a weekly economic column by a local writer. I admit that normally I only skim, if most, Sara Gilbert’s column, “Dollars and Sense.” Last week’s headline, however, caught my attention. It read: “Teach kids to manage finances.” I agree—we definitely should teach our kids to manage finances. But I was alarmed at the first paragraph of the column. It read:
“Now that the graduation ceremonies are complete, it’s important for parents to talk with their high school seniors about handling personal finances before they start their own lives.”
Just now? Just as they are about to leave home? Sorry, but I believe that is much too late. It takes training, time, and repetition to teach kids most anything—including how to budget, handle credit, understand bank accounts, etc. I have pointed out in this forum before that my book, Toward College Success: Is Your Teenager, Ready, Willing, and Able?, has an entire chapter on finances. One of the primary points of that chapter is to start teaching financial management at a very early age—as soon as your kids start the, “I wannas.”
In Toward College Success, I encourage parents to teach their children to operate on a budget—and stick to it. That is often hard, considering many parents can’t manage that themselves. The sooner kids learn how much it costs to run the house and eat, how big a chunk entertainment takes, how to save for wants and needs, the more likely they will make good financial decisions when they leave home, and the more likely they will understand the seriousness of a college education investment.
It is important to reiterate the importance of good financial management before they head off to college or the military or the workforce, but the foundation needs to already be present. What are you doing to prepare your teenagers to be good financial managers?
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