GIFT IDEAS TO TEACH YOUR TEENS SOME MONEY SMARTS

Holiday Gift Ideas That Will Teach Your Teenagers Some Money Smarts

As your kids get older, one of the best things you can do to help them to prepare for life on their own is to set them up with a solid understanding of how to manage their finances.

It’s something they’re probably not learning in school but that they’ll absolutely need in life. The holidays are a perfect time of year to give them some gifts that will give them a head start getting smart about money.

Here are some ideas:

Easy finance reads:   There are some really great books out there that make it easy to understand how important it is to make good financial decisions early in life. Your Money or Your Life, The Automatic Millionaire, The Millionaire Next Door, and anything by Suze Orman will all be good primers for a sound financial future.

Stock in their favorite company:   If during Christmas week 2002, someone had purchased $100 worth of Apple’s stock as a gift rather than an iPod or computer, today the recipient would have around $8,000 – a nice chunk of change! There’s no promise this will happen with a stock you purchase, but if your teen has a favorite company or product, why not do some research and think about giving him a piece of that company so he can start to take an interest in investing?

A newspaper or magazine subscription:   Having a daily or monthly reminder of what is going on in the world of finance is a great way for your teen to start to be aware of macroeconomic trends. Money Magazine, The Wall Street Journal or USA Today would all be good options as they have great articles linking broader financial trends to issues of personal finance.

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