5 Things Teens Should Be Taught About Money

ShelfStacker_3

$ADZ$ wrote: »

Never Borrow money off someone if you know you won't be able to pay them back!

I'd go further and make it quite clear that if you borrow money, you WILL have to pay it back, no way around it. It could take days, it could take years, but it's not free money, it's not YOUR money and you WILL have to give it back at some point, whether by Direct Debit or a court judgement.

username

Overdrafts and credit limits on credit cards are the bank's money.

Someone I know got into lots of debt when he got a student bank account because got into the mindset of thinking that the overdraft was free money, and so blowing it all!

Agree with the above. ^^ When you borrow the bank's money, they will want it back someday, usually with a service charge (i.e. interest) lumped on top.

PROLIANT

I know it is hard being a teenager, I remember when I was 16 and had my first job stacking shelves a Kwik Save back in 1997 earning £2.23 per hour, I didn’t make that many mistakes until I was about 19 when everything went wrong, 11 years on and much wiser and now having learned by some of my mistakes I put the household bills etc first, plan ahead and budget for everything, it sounds sad and to a teenager they would screw there face at this attitude but what is left over is mine or my families money, I'll bet you that they will probably take the same mind set when they hit 27.

hustle90

PROLIANT wrote: »

I know it is hard being a teenager, I remember when I was 16 and had my first job stacking shelves a Kwik Save back in 1997 earning £2.23 per hour, I didn’t make that many mistakes until I was about 19 when everything went wrong, 11 years on and much wiser and now having learned by some of my mistakes I put the household bills etc first, plan ahead and budget for everything, it sounds sad and to a teenager they would screw there face at this attitude but what is left over is mine or my families money, I'll bet you that they will probably take the same mind set when they hit 27.

I'm 17 and don't screw my nose up at that. I agree with you. My wages go into the bank (Only from a part time job) and at the start of the month, I pay my mobile phone bill, laptop (Got this pay monthly from a family members club) and put money aside for college travel/dinner. What ever is left is what I can afford to go out with. I also try and put a little by into a savings account, as I know one day I'm going to need it.

Charity_Queen

This is my first post so please bear with me........

We have recently started teaching our children (8 & 6) about money rather than waiting until they are teenagers. The principles are exactly the same, you just modify the language accordingly.

They each have 3 jars for saving their money.
(1) Labelled "Give" (and they chosse the charities)
(2) Labelled "Save" (ie save for something they want to buy)
(3) Labelled "Bank" to put in their savings account

Now we're just at the stage of giving them some pocket money for chores etc and they decide which jars the money goes into. It's really interesting to see how they divide it up. Then when we're out and about and they ask (as all kids do) " can i have an ice-cream /choc bar etc" we say "yes but it comes out of your money". 75%+ of the time they change their minds!!

We've also just explained about bank interest in the simple terms of putting £100 in ther bank and a year later the bank gives you £5 for "nothing".

Now they're busy thinking up money earning schemes from car boot sales to making cakes to sell.

All fun, all educational..... and I wish I'd been taught allthis earlier!!

Mark7799

Having seen some of the posts on this board by people who in other respects sound like adults, I wonder why this thread is limited to children only:p .

Anyway, in keeping with the thread, can I offer the following....

1. Keep a record of how much money you have - don't assume the balance you get from a cash machine is the same as the amount of money you can spend. Assume that money leaves your account the moment you spend it and that money paid into your account isn't there until you've seen it on a statement/ ATM printout/on-line banking etc.

2. Read and understand the terms and conditions of your bank/ building society/ credit card account. Know how it works before you try and do anything with it.

3. Bank staff who try and suggest something for you don't know everything about you and may be selling you a product to meet their target rather than because they want to help you.

4. Don't spend money on a credit card unless you already know how you will pay it back when the bill comes in.

5. (I know it's been said before but...) Don't bury your head in the sand - if you are hitting financial problems, talk to your Bank, family, CAB as unless you do something the situation usually only ends up getting worse until you do.

tiff

Can anyone else remember when we had savings account in school? I'm 39 and went to junior school in Hereford and remember one day a week (I think) when we could deposit money into our account. I think it was either TSB or Post Office. I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to bring this back and extend it further.

Paul_Herring

The only thing I remember (36) as a kid to do with money was the Natwest Pigs. We didn't have anything at school.

Broke_Student

As a teen (now) in a good financial position I though i'll post the 5 things that have been most important to me. I thought of these before reading Martins post and therefore some lessons are the same as his!

1) Compound Interest. Once you get your brain around it it almost seems silly. Save just £10 a month for £20 years and you'll have £4620 (at 6% gross). Start late but save £20 for £10 years and you'll have just £3300. Glad I started my 'pot' very early!

2) People are out to rip you off. I know most are out to make an honest profit but with this mentality I remember that everything can possibly be bought for cheaper and then I find it cheaper.

3) Don't keep up with the Jones's. The Jones's are probably in debt. £27k in debt if they are the average uk person. I'd rather live within my means and overtake the Jones's later when there is some sort of credit crunch...

4) Funds recieveing a lower interest rate should be used to offset a debt charging more interest. The concept can be used anywhere - credit card stoozing, saving 0% student overdrafts, paying off your mortgage early etc...

5) You can make the most of your money with MSE (seriously).

PROLIANT

Yea, then you step out infront of a bus and get wasted so who is gonna enjoy your hard earned tenner? Live life to the full, saving is for the rich and wealthy.