Comments
PostsToday I have a special Guest Post for you from Alisa Gilbert, thanks Alisa for your post. I particularly enjoyed learning about “The Bad Credit Hotel” game she found. Great job Alisa! ;o)
Enjoy!
Cheers…Amanda van der Gulik…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)
P.S. If you would like to contribute your own post to my blog, feel free to send me your post to amanda (at) teachingchildrenaboutmoney (dot) com. (note: you need to replace the (at) and the (dot). I have to write it this way to avoid those nasty web robots that like to send me s(pam). YUK! ;o(
=================================================================
Financial Literacy and Your Teen
Nearly half of all U.S. teens are completely lost when it comes to effectively investing their money or using credit, while 25 percent are “unsure” or “do not know” how to budget their finances, according to a 2010 Junior Achievement/AllState Foundation study.
Despite their acknowledgment of being financially incompetent, teens still believe that they will be “well-off” or “better off” than their parents, the study states. However, this mind-set combined with the lack of basic money management skills can cause many problems for your teen as they transition into adulthood— possibility interfering with their ultimate financial stability and security.
So why can’t teens grasp simple money management concepts? According to the study, teens blame their parents for not explaining basic money management skills. About 83 percent of the teens surveyed said they would have liked to have learned about the value of a dollar as early as kindergarten.
So as the surveyed teens and many experts suggest, one is not born financially savvy; you must learn it.
But is it too late for your teen to become financially literate? Of course not. It’s never too late to teach your children about money, debt and accountability. But if you don’t know where to begin, below are some fun and interactive tools that can help you get a jump start.
$AVE USA
In addition to funding the 2010 survey, the Junior Achievement—an non-profit organization dedicated to teaching youths about financial literacy— and insurance mogul the Allstate Foundation created a list of free, downloadable money management plans and exercises for both parents and their children to complete together. Designed for children ranging from the 5th grade to the 12th, these discussion lessons offer “age-appropriate content focusing on saving and sharing money, establishing a budget and learning about credit.”
The Bad Credit Hotel
This online game created by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Advertising Council is designed to teach young adults about the advantages and consequences of good and bad credit. Players are required to navigate through a spooky hotel and must unlock a key in order to win. On their journey through the hotel, players will gather enough credit knowledge and clues to earn a winning credit score of 850 which will unlock the key and dub the player as the winner. The interactive game requires players to use a monthly budget calculator to monitor their income and expense figures and credit card balances. Players must then calculate their annual percentage rates to determine how long it will take for them to pay off their debt.
By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Alisa Gilbert, who writes on the topics of bachelors degree. =================================================================
