5 Financial Resources for Teens - Money Tip Tuesday

Building sound money habits at a young age can set you up for financial success through the rest of your life. Fortunately, there are many resources available to help young people learn and build financial skills that are also fun and rewarding. 

Links: 

• Explore Visa's Practical Money Skills website
• Financial guide book: How to Money: Your Ultimate Guide to the Basics of Finance
• Learn about investing with The Stock Market Game
• Explore financial resources for every age at MyMoney.gov
• Learn more about Triangle's Teen Club account with debit card!
• Check out TCU University for more financial education tips and resources! 
• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! 
• Learn more about Triangle Credit Union 

Transcript: 

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast.  

Financial literacy is important for people of any age. Without a fundamental understanding of money, it’s difficult to build effective habits that will last throughout the many different stages of life. 

The earlier in life people learn about and practice important money skills, the better.  

Teens are right at the point where money habits start to become relevant and important. They’re likely to get their first job, buy their first car and enjoy their growing independence. Their access to money provides them with the ability to spend more on what they want and need in life. But even though they may have money coming in, they may not know where to look for help when managing their finances.  

According to a 2021 Greenlight survey, 74% of teens surveyed said they didn’t feel confident in their personal financial knowledge and 73% wanted more financial education.  

The challenge for most people at any age is to find the right resources that provide effective education and training.  

If you’re a teen or maybe a parent of a teen looking for some ways to encourage and build financial skills, here are 5 resources that can help your teen learn about money. 

1. The first one is the website called Practical Money Skills hosted by VISA. It’s designed to teach people of all ages about financial education and covers topics such as credit, banking, debt, identity theft, budgeting and more. It also offers a collection of activities, tools and videos for teens to explore as well as a variety of money games designed for different age ranges.  
   
   
2. The second is to use a financial guide. If your teen enjoys reading, you can check out the book How to Money: Your Ultimate Guide to the Basics of Finance. This book was listed on Investopedia as the best overall money book for teens. It’s a useful beginner’s guide to most money topics that teens can start to explore like starting your first budget, navigating student loans and scoring your first job. It’s also available as an audiobook, so if your teen isn’t much of a physical reader, they can still explore the material from their phone or computer.  
   
   
3. For investment education, the third resource is to try The Stock Market Game. If your teen is interested in the stock market, or you want them to learn more about the stock market, to gain experience or understand it a bit more, there’s a fun tool to explore the ins and outs of the market without using real money.  This is an online trading simulator, set up as a game, that builds familiarity with how the stock market works to help you build confidence in investing. It’s designed to be fun and once you set up an account, it provides fake money that you’ll use to try your trading strategies. 
   
   
4. If your teen likes practical, hands-on tools like checklists, calculators and other resources, then check out this fourth resource, MyMoney.gov. It’s managed by the Financial Literacy and Education Commission and provides an abundance of Youth Resources specifically designed for young people ranging from young children to highschoolers. If your child or teen likes to explore games, there a many on this site to explore. It also links to the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) website for access to even more resources for children and parents targeted by different age ranges.
   
   
5. The fifth resource for teens is to use a teen checking account and debit card. What good is all the money management knowledge and financial literacy tools if there’s no way to put it all into practice? If your teen is starting to make some money, it’s time to get them experienced with a debit card and checking account. This simple tool opens the door to all kinds of financial possibilities so they can practice all the lessons they’ve been learning like depositing money, tracking spending, making payments, and managing a budget. Teens also gain access to mobile banking apps and other online banking tools that they can use to set goals, budget and track spending. Check out Triangle’s Teen club account to learn more about the helpful financial benefits teens get with membership, including their own debit card.  

If there are any other tips or topics you'd like us to cover, let us know at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org, and don't forget to like and follow our Making Money Personal FB page and look for our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union, on Instagram and LinkedIn to share your thoughts.   

Thanks for listening to today's Money Tip Tuesday. Check out our other tips and episodes on the Making Money Personal podcast.   

Have a great day!