Teaching Financial Literacy to Teens

Financial literacy focuses on the knowledge and skills you need to make effective and informed money management decisions. Gaining the knowledge and developing the skills to become financially literate is a lifelong process that begins with something as simple as putting a few pennies in a piggy bank, and evolves to more advanced subjects such as budgeting and risk. 
 
Because financial literacy isn’t emphasized in the education system – only 17 states require high school students to take a course in personal finance – most kids lack the knowledge and skills needed to become financially responsible adults. The good news: There’s a growing interest in requiring personal finance classes in the K-12 setting. Thirty-three states introduced or had pending financial literacy legislation during the 2017 legislative session. 

Despite this progress, most things "money" are still taught at home, where the role of financial educator falls primarily on parents, guardians and other adults. Unfortunately, many grownups find it tricky to talk about finances – something that’s often made worse when adults lack confidence in their own finances. Unsure of where to begin and worried about saying the wrong thing, they may avoid talking about money at all.

What’s important for adults to remember, however, is that even if you aren’t a financial rock star, you have experience and perspective on your side, and can draw both from your financial mistakes and successes to share essential knowledge and skills with your kids. It starts with a conversation.
 
In our other two tutorials, Teaching Financial Literacy to Kids and Teaching Financial Literacy to Tweens, we introduce basic and intermediate money concepts that are appropriate for younger kids. In this tutorial, designed especially for teens, we introduce more advanced topics, including budgeting, credit and debt, money management, investing and moving out.