I just ran across a report from Montana State University on teaching your kids about finances. It’s a bit over a year old, but it’s short and worth a read. According to the article, only 7% of parents think that their kids understand financial matters (however that’s defined) and 30% of kids report that their parents never discuss saving and investing with them. They go on to suggest some good topics to discuss with your kids, including how and why your family saves as well as the difference between wants and needs. They also link to a great site on teaching children (and adults) how to save. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Kids & Money: Learning to Save
2 Responses to “Kids & Money: Learning to Save”
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I was just thinking about that recently too and jot down my thoughts on it.
I gotta say I’m in the parents never teaching about financial matters category.
not that my parents regard them as unimportant, I’m not really sure what their view on it is. I think i’ll wait a bit more before I ask them “how come you didnt teach me these things?”
they certainly shouldn’t expect me to learn them from public school. There was no mention of “you should save money” at all in highschool (at least, not that I can recall). I’m in college now and personal finance is still hardly something they go over.
I think the earlier the financial education, the better off the kids will be.
My parents don’t think that any of their kids understand financial matters. Funny thing is, their kids aren’t kids anymore. The youngest is 25.