Taking care of teenagers can be a tough job. Your child will start to learn about the world as they get older. This means learning about money, debts, and how to save.
As a parent, you can have a big impact on how your child handles money. After all, it’s likely that your child won’t learn much at school about how to handle money. Whether your teen just got their first job or has just started asking for more money to hang out with friends, there are many things you can do to help them succeed.
Here are our best suggestions for helping teens and college students learn how to manage their money.
Give Responsibilities From Early On
To help kids understand how important and valuable money is, it’s important to teach them how cash works and how important it is to only spend what they can afford.
A great way to start is to give your teenagers regular pocket money so they can learn the basics of how to spend and save money. A regular amount of pocket money is like a wage. You can even ask your child to do things like clean their room each week to earn their pocket money.
Don’t give your child extra money for things they can’t afford once they have their pocket money. Even though it might be difficult to say no at first, being tough will show your child that they need to save up if they want to buy bigger things. For example, they may want to get on of the latest Gaming beds, and need to save for it.
Teaching Them To Bank Money
When it comes to learning how to save and spend money, most kids and teens will copy what their parents do. That doesn’t mean you have to be perfect with how you spend your money, because we all make mistakes, but it does mean you need to be careful about the example you set. For example, you might sometimes need to get a personal loan, but you shouldn’t get a loan or use a credit card for every expense. Teach your teen that you can save money and wait for something you want.
Help Them To Get In The Habit Of Saving
One of the most important things a teenager can learn is how to live within their means and save. With this in mind, use every chance you get to show your child how important it is to save. For example, if your child asks for money to buy a new game, don’t just give it to them. Instead, sit down with them and start figuring out how many weekly pocket money payments they’ll need to buy it.
Help Them Deal With Their First Paycheck
Lastly, when your teen gets their first job, make sure they know how much the money is worth. Encourage them to think about how many hours they would be required to work to make up for the money they spend.
When your child gets their first job, it’s a good time to sit down with them and talk about their long-term goals, like buying a vehicle or going on vacation with their friends, and how they can focus on saving for those things.
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