Being a financial planner, I see first hand the importance of having a basic financial education. However most adults don’t understand money management and are intimidated by finance, and it’s for good reason – no one ever taught them! So many of our adult issues could be avoided if we learned the importance of saving, avoiding debt, and how to spend responsibly before being thrown into the fire as an adult.
The teenage years are a critical time to ensure your child is financially educated. Your teen is just steps away from becoming an adult. At 18 years old, kids are thrust out into a world where every step they take from graduation to retirement will be directly impacted by their financial knowledge and money management skills. Career decisions, buying their first house, getting married, having children—finances all play a massive role in each of these life events. These are responsibilities and decisions that come with real life financial consequences that can have long-term impacts.
On top of these basic responsibilities that all adults have, this generation will be faced with complexities and decisions that parents today never faced—providing even more incentives to learn money management. The way consumers shop has changed. Cash is being used less and less, and online shopping is now the preferred choice for many. More plastic and less cash lead to greater chances for this generation to use credit cards and accumulate debt. Additionally, today there are more choices, options and complexities within investing and retirement. Most people have retirement plans like 401ks, which require being actively involved in managing their investments. With hundreds of options including stocks, mutual funds, index funds, target date funds—it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the decisions, and not always make the best choices.
Because having a financial education is so important, most would assume their kids are learning this in school. The sad truth is schools are failing our kids when it comes to this critical life skill. It is not taught in most high schools, and not even on the radar of the majority of middle and elementary schools. So it is up to the parents to teach their kids and prepare them to be a financially educated and independent adult capable of making smart decisions.
This is why I wrote my book, why I’ve dedicated my career to financial literacy and why I joined the Advisory Board at Copper. Copper has my shared vision of empowering this generation and preparing teens for the financial responsibilities of adulthood. Copper is a platform where teens and parents can connect, discuss and learn the financial fundamentals together. It provides a real-world, safe environment for teens to learn by doing; they can practice money management such as budgeting and saving money in a digital world. Copper is a place where they are safe to learn, grow and most important – make mistakes. Here they can make money mistakes and learn from them now, rather than make them as an adult when there are lifelong consequences.
In my role as Executive Director of Financial Literacy, I am especially focused on supporting the parents, because parenting is a big job and finances can feel overwhelming. Together with Copper, we will provide resources and tools that simplify finance, help you navigate difficult conversations and give tips on how to teach your teen the fundamentals.
We are dedicated to helping raise the first generation of financially literate and independent generation!
