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Teaching your teen a lesson in responsible money management might produce dividends that last a lifetime. Whether your young adult treats your wallet like an ATM or already earns a paycheck, developing this critical life skill may help them avoid financial missteps in adulthood. Here are three subjects they should ace before graduating from high school.
1. Goalsetting
Your teen might have a goal to attend a specific college or to make the varsity soccer team, but do they have financial goals? Help them figure out what’s important to them. Then, identify non-monetary rewards that will motivate them to build good financial habits. As with all goals, it's essential to write them down and make them specific, measurable, and achievable with a timeline in mind.
2. Budgeting
A budget is what will help your teen achieve their stated financial goals. Show them how to compare income to expenses and how overspending affects their ability to reach their goals. Encourage them to use technology to help manage finances by downloading a mobile budgeting app and using it to track spending. You and your teen can monitor their account any time by using online banking.
3. Saving
Saving early and often is a habit that makes reaching financial goals less of a struggle. If your teen waits until they have student loan debt, an auto loan, or credit card bills to discover they don't have funds left over to pay for unexpected expenses, they may turn to you each time "life happens".
Explain that the easiest way to build a hefty savings balance is to make consistent deposits part of their monthly budget. Help them save money automatically by setting up recurring online transfers between checking and savings accounts. Creating a habit of saving money during the teen years could also help them maximize the power of compound interest.
Give your teen a financial head start by opening a Simmons Bank Simply Checking account. They can quickly turn their spending into savings with our Round-Up Savings program. Each time they use the linked debit card, Simmons will round up to the next whole dollar and deposit the difference into a secondary account of their choice. Now that's savings worth learning about!