These are the years when your child becomes more financially independent and lay the groundwork for how they are going to handle their money as an adult. Instead of continuing to allow your child to completely depend on you financially at this stage, it's essential that you encourage your teen to take some responsibility while they are still under your guidance to help with any mistakes. No matter how good or bad your personal finances are, these are the things you should make your kid do:
- Get a part-time job for a steady income and the opportunity to learn some financial independence.
- Understand what taxes are taken out of their paychecks and why this occurs.
- Do charity work because time is money and they should donate both when they can for those in need.
- Get their first debit card and learn how to manage funds (and deal with overdraft consequences).
- Take an active roll in understanding the cost of different colleges as far as tuition, room and board, books, and meal plans.
- Be exposed to the different ways of investing money.
