Andrea Nisley, Extension Educator
University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension
From a parent’s perspective, it’s just a few short years from lemonade stands to college credit card come-ons. But these trasitional years are a perfect time to help your children build sound money management skills.
As parents, you play a key role in shaping your children’s values and attitudes about money management. A 1999 survey of close to 200,000 students nationwide in grades 6-12 revealed that more than three-quarters of the respondents had learned most of what they know about money from a parent.
At a time when student financial literacy is declining, your role in teaching your children about money is especially important.
Very few young people want to be dependent on their parents as adults. Even fewer want to find themselves deep in debt. But there are many pressures in today’s society that cause people to get in financial trouble.
Teens - always under pressure to conform with their peers - also must contend with high-pressure marketing. According to Teenage Research Unlimited, a company that tracks teen spending, kids aged 10 through 18 spent about $170 billion in 2002 - about 40 percent of it on clothing.
Only a strong role model can begin to counteract teen peer pressure. Talk to your kids about money on an adult level. Introduce them to the concept of providing for their basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, education and transportation) and setting priorities on what they want to buy. Life is about realistic choices. Explain that a Porsche is cool, but a dependable used car will get you to school and work just fine, even if your friends tease you about driving a "junker."
If your neighbor gets a new car, do you want one, too? Such behavior used to be called "Keeping up with the Joneses." Now the phrase "affluenza" is used to denote money problems such as overspending, misuse of credit and falling into debt. Unfortunately, affluenza can be contagious - your children learn from you. If you’re a shop-a-holic, chances are good your kids will be too.
Sometimes kids want to buy things because of peer pressure, sometimes out of boredom, sometimes just to see if they’ll get their way. Help your kids understand that there is more to life than trips to the mall by looking at your own habits and asking if your actions are sending the wrong messages.
Log on to unlforfamilies.unl.edu, click on TIPS then on Feedback and let us know how you are shaping your children’s values and attitudes about money management.
Source: "Talking to Teens About Money" by Consumer Action
