Independent Teens and Credit Lessons

I was recently interviewed by CreditCards.com to give some tips on how an emancipated teen can build credit and learn to handle their financial freedom. 

Here's the link: Emancipated minors may get freedom, but don't count on credit

Here's my best quote that you can share with your teens: 

"Emancipated or not, the whole purpose of learning to use credit cards is learning that a credit card is a loan, and you have to live within your means or below your means, not use a credit card to live beyond your means," says Gigi Collins, a New Jersey-based financial coach for teens. "A credit card is not a chance to go out and overspend or buy things you can't afford."

Great advice for all of us to follow!  

Your Financial Literacy Quest

Happy New Year!

Make 2013 the year that you embark on a financial literacy quest with your kids and teens! Maybe this will be a new quest for you. Or maybe you are ready to expand your existing financial literacy quest.

Whatever the case, the time is now.

Parents are the number one role model for their kids and teens when learning about how to manage money. All parents want their children to be happy and healthy. What about financially healthy? This is your chance to teach your kids good money habits: to grow up debt free, build up their savings, live within their means, and invest wisely.

Don't worry, you don't have to be financial expert yourself to teach your kids and teens about money. It's best to use the lessons from your own life and everyday situations to talk about money.

And, you are not alone, check this blog weekly for useful tips, tools and stories all year that will help you along the way.

Happy Quest!

Bust the Money Tree Myth

Yesterday at my parent workshop Bust the Money Tree Myth ~ 3 Easy Steps to Teach your Kids the Value of Money, I mentioned a few surveys on kids and money that are worth taking a look at.

• Junior Achievement 2012 Teens & Personal Finance Survey
• T Rowe Price Parents, Kids & Money Survey - March 2012
• Charles Schwab 2011 Teens & Money Survey

The biggest take-away from these surveys is that parents play an instrumental role in teaching their children about money yet parents are not talking having enough money conversations using everyday life situations to do so. And parents need to be consistent and follow their own good money advice. The golden rule of parenting...they are watching you!

A big thank you to The Schoolhouse and Melissa Corey for hosting the parent workshop. I am back at The Schoolhouse in July for two fun and educational Teen summer workshops.

Does Allowance Really Teach Your Kids About Money?

I’m sure you can guess that my answer would be a big “YES” however this article’s subtitle stated that giving allowance was a “waste of time.” Of course, I had to read on to find out what this heretic had to say.

It turns out I agree. 

If you give allowance to your children without any guidance or daily conversation about money—then you are literally throwing away good money after bad and giving up the opportunity to teach and pass on your money values. Don’t bother to give allowance unless you are ready to talk about financial topics with your children. 

Money is emotional. The earlier you talk about your money values the better off your children will be to cope with money issues as an adult. You want to connect money with values and emotions. For example, if they spend all their allowance before the next payday, don't bail them out. Let them learn from their poor choices. Now the lesson will stick otherwise it’s just numbers.

Allowance is a parenting tool. You need to spend the time upfront to design an Allowance Program. Only then will you have success in teaching your kids and teens about healthy money habits such as living within your means, understanding the pitfalls of too much debt and investing for the future to meet important goals. 

If you would like guidance in building your Allowance Program, check out 5 Steps to a Successful Allowance Program.

Summer Camps...already?!

It's time to think about summer camps for your kids...and teens. There tends to be more choices for kids in elementary and middle school age. But what about teens? High schoolers may be stuck in between "too old" for a traditional camp and "too young" for a real summer time job.

Here are two workshops for high school teens that I developed that will integrate learning good money habits with some summer fun. 

The Stock Market Game will teach your teen about the importance of investing their savings to meet their long-term goals. While learning about stocks, they will also be working in teams (leadership and team building skills), giving a presentation (public speaking skills), and developing critical thinking skills (researching their portfolio stock picks). Watch out Wall Street!

The Financial Smarts for Teens will introduce your teen to the skills they will need to manage their money now and in the future. We'll be using interactive exercises for them to experience earning an income (paystub analysis), good and bad credit (credit card applications/statements), setting goals (how to be a millionaire calculator), plus more. The best part is that it's someone other than you (the parent) talking about the importance of money and being responsible. No more eye rolling!

The workshops will be held at The Schoolhouse in Chatham, NJ.

Below are the full descriptions. Find out how to register here. Sign up early - space is limited.

The Stock Market Game:
July 9-13, 2012 ~ 9:00am - 12pm Monday-Friday

During this week long seminar, your team will learn how to make smart investments in all of your favorite name brands and their parent companies. As you learn to research real companies, read actual stock quotes, and diversify your hypothetical portfolio, you and your team will compete with other teams to be the most profitable. At week’s end, your team will present and defend your investment strategy for the grand prize! This opportunity is perfect for high school students possibly interested in a career on Wall Street. A maximum of 12 students can join this program. Grab your friends and build your own team for a great week of financial fantasy role playing!

 

Financial Smarts for Teens:
July 10, 11, 12, 2012 (T/W/Th) ~ 3:30pm to 5pm

This three-day workshop will introduce high school teens to important personal finance concepts they need to manage their money wisely now and in the future. Teens will be introduced to the basics of personal finance with interactive examples. Topics to be covered include: Preparing a financial plan, learning to budget, discussing financial instruments, growing your money by investing, using credit wisely, and protecting your assets with insurance. Teens will leave the workshop with a personalized action plan as well as additional resources for future reference. A maximum of 12 students can join this program.