Teaching the younger generation about money/finances?

[the-real-steve]

The last time we did a poll, the majority of us are in our 40's or above, most with adult (or near adult) children. Some of us geezers are grandparents now. Fancy that

In high school, we had a class on basic finances, I think it was called business math. We learned how to keep a checkbook, we learned about economics and the stock market, and so forth.

These days, with being able to pull up an app on our phones, it seems like the younger generation uses that. I see few writing checks. It's all about payment apps. Back when I did a lot on eBay, we had Paypal. Now there has to be a half dozen online payment services available.

My older children are pretty good about this. The younger ones that work jobs seem to struggle a bit and at times I have to step in with some advice.

In your opinion, with today's technology, how good of a job are we doing teaching the next generation about money and finances?

[JohnL]

I personally believe that some technology makes it too easy to be lazy about the relationship between income and expenditures. Here’s what we were taught about managing our money.

We were taught to write down our income and our expenditures to compare the two. Writing it down and thinking about it slows our impulses and makes planning an important part of the process.

Our parents made us a part of the family finances discussion so we could learn how to save and how to budget. An app doesn’t do that.

[the-real-steve]

Money management is a lot like gardening: there's little sayings.... like what can be planted on St, Patrick's Day, on Mother's Day, etc. With money, I was always told your house payment shouldn't be more than a week's wages and to always pay yourself first (put money in savings).

[QuietlyListening]

I did have to laugh when a friend and I were talking to a girl in her mid 30s and paying bills. They have auto pay on all bills and was saying without it she could never remember. We laughed and laughed- we were in the day you paid all bills by check and mailed it in and you had other remember, no one did it for you.

We did a good job with our kids and I see my kids working with theirs. But I also see so many living on the edge of their income and could go under so easily. Some schools do teach budgeting etc but others don't. That should be a requirement with all other courses.

[JohnL]

I did have to laugh when a friend and I were talking to a girl in her mid 30s and paying bills. They have auto pay on all bills and was saying without it she could never remember. We laughed and laughed- we were in the day you paid all bills by check and mailed it in and you had other remember, no one did it for you.

We did a good job with our kids and I see my kids working with theirs. But I also see so many living on the edge of their income and could go under so easily. Some schools do teach budgeting etc but others don't. That should be a requirement with all other courses.

Not only that but we had memorized our relatives and friends phone numbers. I think auto pay is good for the elderly but not so good for the younger adults. The brain needs exercise too.

[Grace]

I did have to laugh when a friend and I were talking to a girl in her mid 30s and paying bills. They have auto pay on all bills and was saying without it she could never remember. We laughed and laughed- we were in the day you paid all bills by check and mailed it in and you had other remember, no one did it for you.

We did a good job with our kids and I see my kids working with theirs. But I also see so many living on the edge of their income and could go under so easily. Some schools do teach budgeting etc but others don't. That should be a requirement with all other courses.

Not only that but we had memorized our relatives and friends phone numbers. I think auto pay is good for the elderly but not so good for the younger adults. The brain needs exercise too.

The elderly grew up using checks and cash. When they write out a check it helps them remember and they usually have a bank statement to go back and review what they spend.

As for teaching young people, I think they need to be taught how to write a check, how to balance a checkbook, and the importance of having hard copy records. We have young renters who do not have checking accounts and pay their rent through PayPal. It is a pain for us, and it is much easier for them to forget to pay the rent.

[Tuvy]

I'd say "Could be better" for sure. My kids definitely rely on apps, which is fine, but they don't always grasp the bigger picture of budgeting and saving. It's like, if they don't see the cash, it doesn't feel real. I try to talk to them about it, but it's an ongoing battle.

[the-real-steve]

I had my first debit card at 18. Thought I was big stuff. I don't think it did me any good. Not bad, either, just didn't do me any favors.

My dad once thought about getting an account at P.B. Zimmerman's hardware store but didn't trust himself. Still doesn't have one, to my knowledge.

I had a Home Depot card as well as an L.L. Bean credit card. I carried a bit of a balance on the Home Depo account just to track what I was spending on a project. No longer carry a balance. The credit card I use for gas and groceries as I get points towards L.L. Bean stuff. It buys my wife's Christmas gift every year.

Young people these days think they need to start off where their parents left off when they start home making. I guess its been that way for generations. My daughter and her husband live in a house that was remodeled before they moved in, but they rent from his parents, so there's that. Not jealous, but what are we teaching young people?

[barnhart]

Perhaps the best teaching we can give to our children about money is to vanquish love of money and things of this world from our own lives. If they see this, I think their money management trend in a good way. I have little vision for money management if the goal is to "get ahead."

[Ernie]

Recently I heard a Beachy Amish-Mennonite, who is also a school teacher, talking to another CA Mennonite teacher about how they are helping high school students invest in stocks. As I understood it, they want to help high schoolers learn some good principles for investing in the stock market, do's and don'ts, etc. I thought this is the wrong direction to be pushing young people, but I suppose that if they aren't going to teach high schoolers more noble ways of investing their money, than they might as well do the best that they can with the culture/environment they are creating.