Values: Youth and Money

With the way teenagers spend money, one would think that they would just blow a large amount of money that they suddenly won. However, research shows that this is not generally the case.

According to a recent survey, when American teenagers were asked, "What would you do if you won $100,000?" an astounding 93% of them stated that they would buy a gift for their parents. They don't plan on spending it all on this present, so other things they would spend that money on are:
New car 67%
Vacation 63%
College 55%
Charity 45%
(Source: Impulse Research for Tombstone)

Having information like this should encourage parents to continue to talk with their tweenagers and teenagers about responsibility with money. Below is a short list of some great opportunities to talk about money with your youth.

Take your youth with you when you go grocery shopping - it’s a great way to teach them budgeting.

Talk about the ads you see on TV. Talk about how these ads work or do not work on selling youth products. Use these ideas to help come up with ways to keep TV marketing from working on your youth.

Have your teenage help when it’s time to pay your monthly bills. This is a chance for you to talk about how much things really cost and learn how to meet their own financial responsibiliy in the future.

Praise your youth when they reach a financial goal such as saving for a large ticket item. Positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator.