Teaching Finance Management Life Skills to Your Gifted Teen
I’m continuing to explore life skills to teach gifted teens. As my son gets older there are some obvious ones that are presenting themselves, and others that I’m sure I’m likely to miss. When it comes to life skills, finance management is a pretty important one.
This post contains affiliate links to 3rd party resources where products purchased may result in paid compensation for this blogger.
► Day 2 – Finance Management
Beginning to understand finance management starts with understanding the basics. Knowing the difference between income, expenses and how to balance the two is pivotal for money
Practical Money Skills
Of course when teaching finance management any free resources make it even more beneficial for the whole family. Which is why I was thrilled to discover Practical Money Skills. They offer Financial Literacy through lesson plans, free resources, and fun digital games teens will love. They’ve partnered with Visa to create an expansive resource that anyone can use to become more knowledgeable about financial matters.
Seriously y’all, they’ve thought of everything related to money, and if you utilize no other resource you’ll be able to fully equip your teens, and perhaps yourself for successful financial management. (Oh and by the way, I’m so thrilled about discovering this resource that I’m sharing of my own accord, this is not a sponsored post.)
You’ll discover:
- Financial Calculators
- Understanding Auto buying, & loans
- Budget & Setting Financial Goals
- Career Information, Work & Taxes
- Planning for Retirement
- Understanding Credit & Debt
- Paying for College
- Family Life Management
- Home & Mortgages
- Loans
- Savings & Investment
Here’s just a few of the FUN Finance Management Resources they have available so be sure to take a good look around.
- Financial Soccer – Put your financial skills to the test with Visa’s World Cup-themed Financial Soccer multiple-choice question game.
- Financial Football – Give your brain a Financial Football workout — play the NFL-themed video game developed by Visa.
- Marvel Comics – Visa and Marvel Entertainment teamed up to release two exciting educational comic books, which teach young people about personal finance, including this Budget Blaster, Printable.
Income
Finance management begins with income. Which means getting a job, or building a business. Either way you’ll want your teens to have a basic understanding of how employment and business owning works.
Employment Matters
The best learning method is experience. It’s never too early to let your children learn how to earn their own money. It can start at home, but also extend outside the home by helping them to think of ways to earn money. I’m a firm believer in children, teens contributing to the family household through chores and other areas of responsibilities. For those, I do not recommend paying them for work that is considered a regularly expected chore to be completed, such as; making beds, taking out trash, doing dishes, etc.
I’ll be discussing job hunting and etiquette in a post later in the week. For now, I’m going to focus on employment as it relates to income.
Learn more about 6 Money Lessons Your Kids Need Before Leaving Home from my friend Amy at Encouraging Moms at Home.
That being said, I do think there are tasks that you can come to a negotiated agreement on. Here’s some examples.
- Housework you don’t enjoy doing, maybe it’s vacuuming, or cleaning toilets,
- Crushing pop cans
- For teens who drive, have them run errands
- Babysitting younger siblings
- Cleaning gutters
- Trimming hedges
- Collecting household recyclables
Once they show themselves to be responsible with jobs for you in your own home, and you’ve been paying them, consider encouraging them to seek jobs from family friends, members of your church, or neighbors.
- Cooking for a family in their own home.
Imagine a weary mom of toddlers, and how it would feel if a teen came in made dinner, cleaned up the mess and left everything ready for mom to serve to the family. - Sell Artwork or Crafts
Does your creatively gifted teen have mad art skills? Why not help them set up a booth at a local fair. Or, even, start an online shop to sell their wares. - Offer Car Detailing in the Neighborhood
Obviously, you’ll need to make sure they have the skills needed to detail a car, but this could be a great way to earn a bit of income all summer long. - Mother’s Helper
I have a friend who when her children were young hired a young teen to entertain her children while she got her housework done. - Paper Route
- Mowing Yards
- Babysitting
Once you see that your teen is consistent and responsible doing work for people you know, consider allowing them to seek a part-time job outside the home.
- Cashier, Bagger at grocery
- Waiter/Waitress (This presents an interesting finance management teaching moment considering tips play a big role in how a waiter is paid.)
- Lifeguard
- Camp Counselor
- Mail room at local business (real estate, brokerage, lawyer)
- Paid internship, especially in the field they may want to enter
Paychecks & Taxes
We all remember when we received our first paycheck and that feeling of ugh, when we realized that it was less than expected because of the taxes, social security and FICA. Um, what’s FICA again? But you can help your child get ahead of that moment. Remember that our gifted teens are most likely dealing with emotional intensity and therefore might just have a meltdown at the unfairness of paying taxes.
Take the time to go over a check stub, your own, or your spouses. Explain what each of the deductions mean. This is also a good time to go over how insurance premiums, work, and the purpose of that.
~Breaking Down A Paycheck: Teaching Your Teen About Tax Withholding – H&R Block Dollars and Sense
~ Understanding Taxes Teacher Site – IRS has help for teachers to teach about taxes. Choose from a variety of activities to fit what you want your student to learn.
~ Paying Taxes Lessons from MoneyInstructor.com
Entrepreneurship & Operating a Business
- High School Entrepreneurship 101 – Spell Out Loud
- Tycoon Games – Free Business Tycoon simulation games
Expenses
One thing you’ll want to be sure to teach your child is how to anticipate expenses. This might seem simple, but gifted children often miss the little things. They may not understand that toilet paper needs to be budgeted, or that you have to pay the trash bill in advance.
For example, I remember shortly after I got married. My husband and I moved 18 hours away from our parents. That’s when the rubber hit the road. We were on our own. After spending a day or two budgeting, meal planning, and grocery shopping. The cold reality hit when I prepped to make my first, at home meal. I gathered all the ingredients that I had planned and shopped for only to realize that I didn’t have any spices. None. I didn’t even have salt and pepper.
Why? Because I hadn’t anticipated that I needed those staples. In mom’s home those things were always just in place. My budget was spent and it was two weeks before I could go back and buy those much needed spices. But… whew I had no idea how expensive spices were!
Taking the time to help your child learn to anticipate regular expenses will go a long way in helping them learn to budget.
Resources for Teaching Budgeting Skills
- Teaching Financial Literacy To Teens: Budgeting – Investopedia
-
How to Teach Kids to Budget Their Money [Free Printables] – Self-Sufficient Kids
- 6 Steps to Help a Middle or High Schooler Budget – Bank of America Better Money Habits
-
Budgeting Smarts: How to Set Goals, Save Money, Spend Wisely, and More by Sandy Donovan
Banking
An important part of managing finances is learning how to maneuver through the banking process. Banks serve a purpose. They provide a means to manage, and save money. They provide loan services, investing services, as well as credit and financing services. But, it’s important to keep in mind that banking is a business, an industry that profits from their clientele.
Which means it’s important for us to teach our children how to make smart banking decisions, to keep the majority of our income in our own possession, rather than paying the banks for their services.
Banking Skills
- Understand the symbiotic relationship of a bank and client
- Understanding the various types of bank accounts available
- Knowing about banking fees
- Understanding deposits, withdrawals, savings books, and direct deposits
- Understanding checking accounts
- Reading a bank statement
- Balancing a checkbook
- Managing a debit account
- Understanding the mortgage and other loan processes
- Savings accounts
- Investment accounts
- The difference between a bank and a credit union
For more information about how to teach banking, visit the FDIC’s webpage for students, teachers and parents, The Learning Bank .
I created this Free Personal Checking Printable Pack for you so you can practice check book balancing with your teens. Simply enter your email to get instant download instructions in your inbox once you confirm your subscription.
Investment 101
Investing is perhaps one of the most mysterious aspects of finance management for many adults. So teaching these skills to your homeschooled gifted child might seem intimidating.
HowTheMarketWorks Stock Market Game – real-time, streaming stock market game that is used by over 350,000 individuals and 10,000 high school and middle school classes each year. Be sure to see all of the FREE Lessons as well.
Credit Know How
Credit affects all Americans in some way. Whether it’s getting a loan to buy a car, or a credit check for getting an apartment it is a part of our everyday life whether we want it to be or not. Add to that, predatory credit companies targeting young adults and you’ll see that it’s very important to teach our kids early about the credit process and how it will affect their lives.
- Cash and Credit Information for Teens by Karen Bellenir
- First Credit Cards and Credit Smarts by Ann Byers
- 6 Money Lessons Your Kids Need Before Leaving Home – Penny Pinchin’ Mom
10 Blog Posts for Learning Even More about Finance Management for Teens
- Help For Teaching Money Management To Your Middle or High School Student – Starts at Eight
- Money Management for Teens with the CASHFLOW Board Game – Starts at Eight
- Teaching Teens about Money – Practical, by Default
- Home Economics: Budgeting – Real Life at Home
- 10 Awesome Tips For Raising Money-Smart Kids – Seaside Sundays
- Money Management For Teens – Layers of Learning
- Teaching Teens About Saving vs. Spending – Penny Pinchin’ Mom
- Teaching Teens about Money – The Happy Housewife
- 6 Money Lessons Your Kids Need Before Leaving Home – Smart Family Money
- Teaching Personal Finance to Teens – Math Giraffe
Let’s face it. Money matters. And if your gifted kid is anything like mine, they might just be oblivious to the process of earning and spending money. So saving it, or budgeting it might just seem like a super simple thing that doesn’t warrant any time spent on their part. To many gifted individuals the mundane just isn’t worth their time.
But this process is more than just a mundane thing. It’s a pivot point for the financial security of their lives. And, if they want to live independently it will be necessary for them to have not just a basic understanding of how money is managed, they’ll need to have the skills necessary to ensure it’s done well.
Be sure to follow along all week for this 5 Day Hopscotch.
Practical Life Skills that Your Gifted Teen Needs to Know How To Do
► Day 1 – Cooking 101
► Day 2 – Finance Management
► Day 3 – Household Management
► Day 4 – Personal Care Skills
► Day 5 – On the Job Front
Peacefully Homeschooling,
This post is part of the iHomeschool Network’s 5 Day Hopscotch.