Let The Teens Manage Their Money

By Florencio Jr Sevilla

One of the reasons why teens love to work is that they want to have their own income. Teens want to have discretionary funds they can use without their parents poking at them and auditing all their cents. If the parents would let their teenagers manage their own money, they should be ready to give them advises on money management such as budgeting and fund management. In this way, they can be sure that their teens will not just squander their money on less important things.

The following may help the teens manage their money:

Teach the teens to save
Encourage the teens to open a savings account to deposit their earnings. Even just a few dollars a week will be good enough. If their parents are giving them allowances, they can talk to them and ask them to set aside some dollars in the bank. When the time comes that they need to withdraw, they will be amazed to see how much money they have saved.

Teens must spend wisely
The biggest nightmare among the teens is to wake up with nothing to spend, yet the next allowance is still a few days away. They will be forced to borrow and this will only add more problems. Spending wisely is a must especially to those with tight budget. If the school is just a walking distance, they should be happy to take a walk and enjoy that needed exercise. Need to go dating? Why not ask their crushes to have a chat with them in the park, this way they don't need to spend much. A can of soda could do the trick.

Introduce the teens to fund management
There are many plans of fund management that are available to teens. With a few dollars, the teens can have the opportunity to increase their money under the watchful eyes of money experts. This will also add pride to the teens for having invested money like what the grownups did. In addition, requiring them to pay taxes out of their investment will make the teens contributors to the national coffers.

Get a checking account
Getting a checking account will teach the teens some financial responsibility. Just imagine the teens issuing some checks for their purchases and or services they acquired. Knowing that a bouncing check would have legal repercussions, the teens will be extra careful in handling their finances.

Let them get credit cards
The feel in getting credit cards nowadays is greatly different as compared many years ago. Before, a person is jubilant when his application is approved because it proves that he is credit worthy. Today, credit card offers are numerous that it will make the eyes bulge. The teens must be extra cautious on the type of cards they will apply. The benefits are vaguely explained in the ads or in the emails when credit card companies promote these cards. Most often, actual charges and interest rates are hidden, only to make the teens sorry for just freely making purchases.

Credit cards are there to allow the teens to purchase, but they have to purchase only those things that are needed. They must avoid being compulsive buyers.

Parents have a lot to explain to their teens about money management. No matter what the teens want, the parents are in the best position to tell what is best for their teenagers. Just remember that the parents could contribute much to the success or failure of their teens. Let the teens manage their money and make them real money managers.

FLORENCIO JR. L. SEVILLA is a freelance writer. He presently resides at Calaran, Calamba, Misamis Occidental.

He publishes the following websites:

About Teens at http://elsaguirigay.googlepages.com
About Marriage at http://makemarriagelast.googlepages.com

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