Guest Post: 4 Ways to Cultivate your Teen’s Interest in Economics and Finance

This week we are blessed with another special Guest Post on ways to help cultivate your teen’s interest in money and creating their own financial success. Although I have a few different view points from Maria on how to encourage our kids to be entrepreneurs I appreciate her opinions and encourage you to keep an open mind also.

Please enjoy Maria’s post, she put a lot of thought and good advice into her post for you.

If you would like to share your own post on my blog, simply email me at amanda(at)teachingchildrenaboutmoney(dot)com and I’ll be happy to review your article for posting on our blog. Just remember that all articles must empower our kids, teens or parents in some way to be considered for posting on this blog.

Enjoy Maria’s great advice!

Cheers…Amanda…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P.S. I’m very excited to let you know that my new edition of “The Insider’s Secrets To Teaching Children About Money” is almost complete. I’ll let you know once the new book is available!!! ;o)

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4 Ways to Cultivate your Teen’s Interest in Economics and Finance

Teaching young people about money is much easier when they already have an interest.  Although all children need to understand the value of money, learn about spending and saving, and become informed about how money works within their families and society as a whole, there are often young people who crave more knowledge than the basics. If you’re teen or teenage student is constantly talking about an interest in economics or trade, it can be difficult to figure out how to help them cultivate their interest into action and higher levels of learning. Unfortunately, finance and economics are not typically the topics of popular games, TV shows or teenage-appropriate activities, so how can you, as a parent or teacher, help an interested teen pursue those areas? With a little creativity, there are, in fact, many different ways to boost these areas of kids’ lives and allow them to do some extra learning in an area they love:

1. Help them start a small business.

Kids in their teens are actually much more equipped to start a real business than you may think. The thought of encouraging a child to become an entrepreneur doesn’t come naturally to many parents, who mainly picture images of lemonade stands and Girl Scout cookie ventures. However, there are tons of ways teens can set up legitimate businesses and become successful. If your teen has an idea that has been brewing for a while, instead of assuming that making money from it will be impossible or that they won’t be able to follow through, help them get started in setting up a real side business. If they are serious about it, give them the initial funding and allow them to keep the profits.

2. Allow them to open a stock portfolio.

Even though you have to be at least 18 to start a stock portfolio on your own, it is possible for younger teens to play the stock market through a parent-registered account. Custodial accounts can be set up under a parent’s name, and teens can buy and sell stocks and control investments through that account. If your teen has an amount of money they would like to invest, make sure that the amount is not too high, and then let them go ahead and invest it. You will be out nothing, even if they end up losing their investment. And the experience for them will be golden, if it’s something they want to do.

3. Locate school or area math and finance clubs.

Although seeing finance clubs in school is not common unless your kids attend a very large (or very well-funded) high school, it never hurts to do a little research into the types of clubs and groups available in your area, just in case any of them may spark your teen’s interest. A math club could be interesting for a teen who loves crunching numbers. You can even suggest that you teen start his or her own finance or economics club with the help of a teacher.

4. Watch intelligent news.

If your teen loves to watch financial news or catch up on trade advice at such a young age, make sure that they have access to intelligent information on the subject. Mainstream media is good to pay attention to as a cultural and economic radar, but it also offers highly sensationalized news that we all know is too often skewed or lacking in substance. Along with the main news networks, make sure to also tune in to NPR and other specialized programs so your child has access to as many perspectives as possible.

Author Bio:

Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she writes about education, online colleges, etc. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.