Talking to Kids About Money

Family Finance

Kids & Cash

Many 18-year-olds have left high school armed with a knowledge of U.S. history and calculus, but no experience with the realities of car loans and college tuition.

Having those first conversations with children regarding spending on tuition and making out a budget can be challenging.
 

“Don’t keep your child in the dark about finances,” says Adam Carroll, chief education officer with National Financial Educators. “Throw the whole money taboo out the window. It’s okay to discuss what money realities with them.”
 

Tad Barton is on a mission to help children understand those money realities. Barton teaches business courses at John W. North High School at 1550 Third Street in Riverside. He currently teaches 150 students in the school’s Global Business Information Technology (GBIT) Academy. In their sophomore year, students take an intro to business technology course, which teaches them skills such as Excel and Web design. In their junior year, they take an economics and entrepreneurship class, which teaches them how to invest, budget and spend wisely. Finally, in their senior year, students take over the management of the GBIT Academy’s online news magazine (www.motoricon.com), which allows each graduating class the opportunity to leave their mark on the site’s design and content.
 

“The kids really learn how to keep a budget, invest in the stock market and balance their finances. Instead of giving them a letter grade, we pay them money and monitor how they use that money as they are asked to find a place to live and budget in expenses. They succeed based on their financial responsibility. It’s very hands on. Instead of reading about it, they have to perform it,” Barton says. “No matter what job they get out of school, with these skills in place they are prepared to manage their money responsibly.”

Elizabeth Galindo, a senior at North High School, is vice president of the school’s Investor’s Club and Future Business Leaders of America. “The classes help me see the importance of every financial decision I make and how important budgeting is. Now I know how much I can spend on things,” Galindo says. “Our economy got into this mess because people overspent and got into debt. I don’t want that to happen to me. These classes empower me with financial independence and security.”

With the right kind of financial education, both at home and at school, the next generation is bound to be smarter and more secure than its parents.