by Tricia
Following up on yesterday’s post about teaching teens about personal finance, here is a link to some free resources from The Hartford (an insurance and investment company):
The Hartford collaborated with the NCAA to produce a 36 page book that is geared towards teens and personal finance. How much information could they get into 36 pages? A LOT. There are sections about budgeting, interest, credit cards, evaluating job offers, insurance taxes, etc. I read through it and it is a great overview centered around a sports theme.
By itself, the Playbook would be a great resource for teens. What makes this Playbook even better is the accompanying 27 page Parent’s Guide that can be downloaded as well. The Parent’s Guide is full of tips on how to discuss personal finance with your son or daughter and even offers conversation starters. It reminded me of a teacher’s manual with how it followed what was in the Playbook.
Both books can be downloaded immediately or you can request multiple hard copies in the mail. Both methods are free. For further reading, there is even more information on the website that I linked to above.
While I was contacted by a representative of the Playbook for Life program to bring these books to my attention, I was in no way obligated to write about them. I think they are a great resource and they have the best price tag of all (free!). Kudos to The Hartford and the NCAA for providing them.
It’s nice to see some action being taken about teaching teens about money. Financial literacy is a skill just like any other and has to be taught, preferably at a young age. They graduate high school and enroll in college with no financial education whatsoever, and when on campus credit cards are thrust upon them, setting them up for financial disaster.
I wrote a post about it, titled “Teach Your Kids About Money and Reap The Rewards” : http://yourfinishrichplan.com/blog/2008/04/07/teach-your-kids-about-money-and-reap-the-rewards/
I read through both the student and parent guide. Great information in there but I don’t think there’s any smart way to use credit and go into debt, at least it gives examples of the costs that can accumulate. Dave Ramsey has a similar type of program called Generation Change, granted his isn’t a free download like this.
This kind of information would have seriously helped me before I went to college. I always thought everyone had to get a credit card, learn to use it and pay it off in full, and rely on student loans to go to school. Been there, done that, and not going back. Hopefully parents will keep this kind of information handy when their teenager is getting ready to leave the nest soon.
Anything will help when it comes to teaching kids about money.
I plan on doing with my daughter what my mom did with me- she charged me rent as soon as I turned 18, and then when I moved out for good, she gave me back all the money that I gave her in rent. I didn’t know all that time that she was saving it. It taught me to budget, and gave me a nice cushion to be on my own with.
Excellent post. We need to educate children on financial responsibility, or this cycle of debt will continue.