Hey all, I’m trying to decide on the next step, personal finance wise, for my teens. They’ve had savings accounts at the local credit union for a few years now (paying 6% interest on the first $1k!!!), where a percentage of any gift money and allowance goes directly to savings that they can’t touch for now. I also try to get them to read their monthly statements.
So far, they haven’t really had to understand money, since we take care of them. However, they need to be responsible for some amount of “fun money” with their friends. What’s the next step?
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I never got them cards made for kids, since those seemed very expensive
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shared AppleCard seems really cool and I can limit by transaction, and I can pay allowance on AppleCash, but they’re not really learning anything if they can rely on my line of credit and I can cover their mistakes.
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my older teen (and in six months the younger) meets the credit union’s age requirement for a checking account and debit card. We could let him have the freedom to use the debit card for whatever he wants, but only from the checking account. As long as there is still a separation between spending and saving, and he is limited by what is in his checking account, that ought to let him have some financial freedom, learn some lessons, and not get himself in too deep, right?
What do you think? Shared AppleCard/AppleCash would be convenient for me, and let them jump right into modern online finances, but a more traditional approach may help them learn the basics better. Currently they’re pretty reliable with their phones, but have had no reason to keep track of their wallets. I can start them both with shared AppleCard now, but with the traditional approach, the younger will have to wait six months
Submitted June 03, 2021 at 08:55AM by wgc123 https://ift.tt/3uHIKSF
