Smart Cents

How to Teach Your Teens and Kids About Money: Essential Tips for Financial Literacy

Empowering young minds with strong financial skills is more important now than ever. When it comes to money management for teens and financial literacy for kids, starting early sets the stage for a lifetime of smart financial decisions. Whether you're teaching basic concepts like saving and budgeting or diving into credit cards and loans we have some tips to help your child become a financially savvy adult.

Our top tip is beginning with budgeting. Tools like a monthly budget template, worksheet, or a budgeting app can allow kids and teens to visually track their income and expenses. Having weekly conversations and looking at weekly spending activity helps to show children and young adults a tangible view of their money. If you are looking for a simple budget template, we recommend the one created by America Saves. It’s simple and easy to use and has some great tips for setting up a budget. A good understanding of budgeting gives kids healthy financial habits that will serve them well throughout their life.

The next step after budgeting is learning how and why saving is important. Saving for unexpected events, future bills, vacations, a new car, or a dream home can decrease stress over money and finances. Opening a savings account for a child is an excellent way to start kids and teens saving early. The importance of emergency savings or an emergency fund can’t be understated as it helps prepare youth for the unexpected financial challenges we all experience. 

If you have teens you will want to discuss more advanced topics such as building credit, applying for loans, credit cards, and the importance of a healthy credit score. Young adults that don’t understand the impact of poor credit choices will struggle for years to overcome credit card debt, student loans, and rebuilding their credit score. Loans and credit cards are powerful financial tools, but they can be confusing, so teens need a solid foundation in finance instead of relying on TikTok 'experts' who often share poor advice.

Taking the time to discuss money, finances, and credit with your kids builds a strong foundation for their future. Not only will they gain confidence handling their money, but they'll also be better prepared for any financial challenges as they grow into smart, responsible adults. For more guidance, check out the resources below, and don't hesitate to stop by your local bank branch for additional support and advice.

Tools and Resources:

U.S. Mint: Free games and resources for elementary age children to help introduce money and finance concepts.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Tips and activities for children of all ages to help build good financial habits.

Council for Economic Education: Activities for families that can help children acquire the tools needed to be financially smart.

America Saves: Great site that is dedicated to helping families save with a resource center full of articles and podcasts that cover many different financial topics.

Night of the Living Debt: A free game offered through the Apple App store for a fun way to practice managing finances.

Your Local Branch: Our community bankers are more than happy to answer questions and help kids and teens start saving or manage spending with a checking account.