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Help and
Information
For
Youth Money Management
Here
you'll gain valuable knowledge to help your youth with today's
financial world. Using age appropriate tools is essential to
guiding your youth through the money management maze.
Basic
things that all children should know before they leave home are:
- Work
out a budget including savings
- Stay out of debt.
Buy only what you can afford
- Learn to
live within their means
- Open a checking account and
how to use it
- How to write bills and pay them on
time
- How to use a credit card wisely
It's
not surprising that since teens have plenty of money to spend ($153
billion last year) that there are many perils and temptations for our
children to learn to deal with when it comes to wisely managing money
We'll
address some specific problems, solutions and resources as
we address two separate age groups: 1) Pre-teens & Teen 2)
College
Age
College Age
How
do you help your first year college student stay our of debt and learn
fiscal responsibility? Here are some practical tips in the
youth
money management fundamentals
Plan a budget.
Map out a financial plan project of expenses along with the
amount your student will spend and you'll both find it'll make it
easier for your student to stick to a budget. Click here
for budget items for students . Use a computer financial program such
as Quicken, to aid you and your child
in developing a budget. You child can can do extensive
searches for best buys through college superstore portals such as
CampusDeport.com. the best source for undergraduate and
graduate
students for travel discounts, including air and rail fare, youth
hostels
and gear try STAtravel.com
If
you're planning to send your teen funds to cover monthly expense,
Citibank has a service call 'c2it' that allows you to wire money via
email using your bank account or credit card. If you're not a
Citibank customer there is a 1% transaction fee. But it is
free
of additional charges for Citibank customers.
Open a checking
account. While most students will open accounts with banks
that
are near campus, having an account with an Internet bank can them time
(no waiting in long lines) and money (fees are often lower and interest
rates on savings account are higher. One good Internet bank
we
recommend is INGdirect
Learn
about College Funding
Sources
College
Savings is another big area of concern for parents and
students alike.
Textbooks.
One
way to cut costs is to look for cheaper sources for textbooks. There
are alternative ways to deal with the sticker shock of textbook prices.
Online sources include: Amazon, e Bay's Half.com
and studentmarket.com. Also try Addall.com for a quick book price
comparison site.
Another alternative is Bigwords.com or campusmonster.com which allow
students to swap books online. Another economical avenue is to
buy access to electronic versions of books found at websites. These are
typically 50% of the cost of a paper version of the book. The one draw
back, it may be tiring to read for long periods of time on a computer
screen.
We
all know that credit cards are a potential money trap , not just for
students, but for all of us. Once your teen is college bound,
however be prepared for them to be bombarded with offers from card
issuers. To avoid problems late, explain the pros and cons of
having a credit card with your teen. While traditional credit
cards come in handy in emergencies, a secured or prepaid credit
card (prepaid) offers the same convenience without the
temptation of overspending. Prepaids
allow the person to learn how to use
credit cards without the problem of debt being built up. It teaches
you can only spend what you have on the card, no more.
Increasingly
debit cards users are gaining points for their use towards
earning airline mile, merchandise or cash. Debit
card
rewards tend to be
leaner that their credit card counterparts. Banks will
encourage
you
'sign' rather than use a pin, as banks receive higher usage fees from
merchants for signature use versus pin use. Either way,
you're
not
running up a credit card bill as the transactions are deducted straight
from your checking account.
Pre-Teen and
Teen
Helpful websites for money management for pre-teens and teens:
A
cute site geared for 8-12 age group is Kidsbank.com. It
utilizes
cartoon characters to teach the basics of savings, interest, use of
electronic fund transfer (EFT), the value of a dollar.
Prepaid Credit Cards are a good device for teaching your child the
fundamentals of credit card use.
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