Author: Mike Clover Added: July 28, 2008
No, I don't mean you need to teach them grammar, math and geography. You can leave those subjects up to the school system and hopefully they'll learn what they need to know with just a little help from you at homework time. I'm talking about a subject that will have far more impact on their lives than knowing the capital of Montana, or the proper conjugation of a verb. I'm talking about money management. This is a subject schools should, but don't address. Start when your kids are old enough to start asking for a quarter to put in a candy machine. Show them how to budget and save for special toys, and teach them that we all have to make choices, because you can't spend the same dollar twice. When they're a little older, teach them about bank accounts. Get them a savings account and let them make the deposits and watch the balance grow. And while you're at it, explain to them how that nest egg will benefit them later. But don't stop there - teach them about checking accounts and the necessity to keep careful accounting. Show them how money melts away as a result of an overdraft. Once, while working in a grocery store, I met a young woman who hadn't learned this lesson. At that time, the bank was charging about $20 for each overdraft, and this girl wrote three NSF (non-sufficient funds) checks at our store in just two days. The sad part was, none of those checks was for over $10. So while she thought she was spending about $25, she created an $85 obligation at the bank. By high school kids should be learning about credit reports and credit scores. Hopefully yours looks good and you won't be ashamed to show it to them. But if it's bad you can use the opportunity to show them how that is affecting your life in negative ways. The first step is to get your free credit report. Then make sure you understand how to read it before you start explaining it to the kids. Show them how every loan and every credit card shows up there as a part of your financial history - and how all those things are combined to give you a credit score. Let them know that while your finances used to be a private matter, now your credit score can be accessed by almost anyone. Above all, remember to make this education an ongoing process. Help them make sound money management a part of their daily lives so that when they get out on their own, all doors of opportunity will be open to them.
--- About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/ . CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
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