Well, if you have not you are not alone. Did you know that most typical teenagers can start earning income by the time they are 15? Earlier usually with a basic paper route or, if they are more on the entrepreneurial side, with shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, selling lemonade, etc.
I have had the privilege of raising two of my four children to adulthood, and both of them quite different on their values of money and time.
As parents we take the time to ensure they are understanding their subjects in school, getting enough extra curricular activities, proper health checkups, and hopefully enjoying their childhood.-- but have we taken the time to explain MONEY?
There are way too many tempting gismos and gadgets that make it hard for our teens to understand how to save their money, especially when their average income is $9.00/hr!!!
Where do you start? My first suggestion: to make it believable you should make sure that you believe the system works. There are many books out on the market about how to teach your children the importance of understanding their money and how to save.
A quick and easy technique is to decide together what portion of their paycheque you want to see go into a savings account, RESP (they can start this account before they turn 16), or even an RRSP. Make sure you celebrate the savings, and help them understand what they are achieving by getting a handle on their money early!
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