Teens & Money Management

Your adolescent will benefit from your help in learning money-management skills. The earlier a adolescent is held accountable for staying within a reasonable budget, the better the chance of avoiding financial catastrophe when he or she leaves the nest.

Guiding your adolescent to good money-management practices is not difficult if you take it step by step. These steps include setting priorities, setting a budget and opening a checking account.

Prioritizing—

1. List your basic daily needs-all the things that your parents expect you to pay for out of allowance and/or income from a job.
2. List those needs in order of importance.
3. Review the list daily.
4. Meet the highest priority needs first.

Setting Up a Budget—

1. Determine a time span for your budget-weekly, biweekly, monthly.
2. List income from all sources-allowance, jobs, gifts.
3. List all expenses-car payments, snacks, entertainment, personal care items, clothes, savings account-and add the amounts. You might have to do some research into cost of various items if you are just beginning to pay for them.
4. List debts, if any, and add it to the expense total.
5. Subtract the expense total from the income total.
6. Consider your budget guidelines before spending any money so you can stay within your budget.

If your adolescent does not have a checking account, now might be a good time to have him or her set one up.

Opening a Checking Account—

1. Choose a bank, considering the fees and special programs of several institutions to make a decision.
2. Take official identification, credit information, current account information and money to deposit to the bank.
3. Ask to talk with an account officer.
4. Fill out an application, and answer any questions.
5. Choose the checking account that will best meet your needs.
6. Ask about charges for using the account and penalties for overdrafts.
7. Read and save all information about the account.

==> JOIN Online Parent Support

Her grades have gone from B's to F's...

My 15 year old daughter has had years worth of problems being accepted by her peers (she was diagnosed with ADHD at age 12). This past summer, she earned enough money to buy her own cell phone and pays a monthly fee for unlimited texting. Her grades have gone from B's to F's. I think she has become addicted to the constant source of contact with peers (regardless of if it is worthwhile, supportive, etc. or not). While I do not micromanage her school work, I have tried to provide incentive. For example, she was told that she could not get her drivers permit without having a 3.0 average. I had her pay for 1/2 of the classroom drivers ed program, but by the time she was 15 1/2 and could get her permit, her grades were all failing and I did not allow her to get the permit until her grades are back to a 3.0. She is continuing to not show any motivation to do anything in her classes. She frequently does not do homework, fails tests and hands in things incomplete, because she says she is busy or too tired. ????? Any suggestions? Thank you!

`````````````````````````````

Hi Mary,

You are still trying to “manage” her academic performance (by withholding driving privileges and trying to provide incentives).

Whenever you are in doubt about what decision to make, always ask yourself, “Will this foster self-reliance – or dependency in my child?” Clearly, disallowing her to get a driving permit -- and then her license -- fosters dependency (i.e., she has to depend on others for transportation).

It will be helpful for all concerned for you to stop taking ownership of her education – and allow her to get that permit.

Mark

My Out-of-Control Teen