subject: Teach Your Children About How to Build Their Financial Profile [print this page] Teach Your Children About How to Build Their Financial Profile
They don't teach our children how to manage money and the importance of credit in school, while children have "their own money" from a young age through allowances, part time jobs, bake and garage sales and more.
The moment your child begins to know what money is and begin coming into contact with it, is the moment educating them how to manage it begins. The first thing to teach them is the value of money and why it is important to save it.
Encourage your grade schoolers to keep a piggy bank and when they are in the toy stores with their eyes wide, encourage them to think about their purchases. Take out a notebook and have them record their favourite toys and the prices. Then when you return home, dump out their piggy bank and discuss how they are going to plan to purchase the thing that they want the most on their list.
With pre-teens you can open a co-account and introduce your teen to banking. When they earn money, require that they deposit a pre-determined amount into their savings account. This is also your opportunity to teach your teen about credit before they reach an age where they can actually obtain credit and do damage. When your teen brings up a big ticket item (less than $200, like a class, vacation, bicycle etc.), loan them the money to purchase it. Have them sign a loan agreement and agree to a monthly payment that they will repay to you every month.
Your teen adult may start to ask you about credit cards. At this point your best bet is to open a joint credit card, with a small limit (an amount you can afford to pay off if your teen is irresponsible) and teach your teen that they can only use the amount on the card that they can afford to pay in full at the end of the month. The biggest benefit to this is that you will have the ability to receive their credit card statements and keep on top of their payment habits. This will also begin to establish your adult teen's credit.
Educating your children about credit will enable them to enter the world with good credit and give them a strong financial profile. For more information about how to manage your credit and finances visit www.trueassess.com.
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