Being a parent is hard work. Your main goal as a parent is to raise a self-sufficient person that can take care of themselves and has good strong personal values. They go off to school every day to learn, we teach them manners, and what it means to be a good person. Yet we forget the things every teen should know before graduating high school.
Did you know that only 41 percent of teens surveyed in a study by the Charles Schwab Foundation actually knew how to balance a checkbook? Think about that less than half knew how to balance a checkbook. And to put the cherry on top nearly a third said they already had debt on average of $230.
Here are the top 8 things your teen NEEDS to know before graduating high school.
Checkbook
A teen graduating high school and not knowing how to balance a checkbook isn’t acceptable. How can you control your own finances when you don’t even know how to track them?
Budgeting
Every teen should know how to set up a basic budget. A budget will help them stay out of debt and know how much money they have coming in monthly. The easiest budget to teach would be a basic budget just listing your monthly bills, your income, and making sure you’re not overspending.
How to manage a bank account
Every teen should know how to manage a bank account. From the moment they get a job they should be responsible for their own bank account. That means they should know and have to deal with the consequences if they overdraw and how to dispute charges. By the time they graduate high school they should know how to use a checking account efficiently and the responsibility that comes with having one.
A good way to give your teen a checking account without having to worry too much is check out your local bank’s options on teen checking accounts which will give you the ability to monitor the account to make sure the teen doesn’t rack up fees and other charges.
Debt
Every teen should know the risk of building up debt especially credit card debt. They should know all about the fees and interest associated with having this type of debt and just how long it can take them to pay it off.
Related: 10 Habits To Become Debt Free
How to get out of credit card debt
Privacy
When you hear privacy you don’t think about financial but you should because a thief could wreak havoc on your life if they get a hold of your social security number and date of birth. Teach them to only share it with people they have to. The school (in Florida) nor the doctor’s offices need your social. This number will be with them for life, so they should know how to protect it.
Related: Identity Theft Protection
Credit Score
Make sure your teen knows how to check their credit score, and when they find a mistake that they know how to report those mistakes. Even little mistakes can cause your issues later.
Related: Tips To boost Your Credit Score
Mistakes
Making mistakes is a part of life. No one wants their child to lose money but sometimes you’re going to have to let them so they learn their lesson. The earlier they learn those lessons the better off they’ll be. Whether is be having to pay an overdraft fee, their stock losing money, or having to pay credit card debt because they didn’t listen. If they make those mistakes now they are more likely to avoid them later in life when they have more at stake.
Frugal
My grandmother instilled a sense of frugality in me from a young age. Teach your kids that saving money is a good thing. Instead of buying that expenses shirt they can buy it used and save the money they would have spent. Teach them to bargain hunt. Teach them that saving money will help them later in life.
Related: Are You Cheap Or Frugal?
Before your child graduates high school they need to know how to balance a checkbook, deal with money mistakes, manage their bank accounts, how to budget, how to be frugal, how to take care of their credit score, and how tp protect their privacy. Making sure your teen knows those 8 things before graduating high school will get them off to a great start in their financial journey.
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