Kids & Money

Teaching Kids the Magic of Compound Interest with a Roth IRA

As summer comes to an end, many teenagers are flush with cash from summer jobs. If your teenager is in this situation and you’d like to use this opportunity to teach them the magic of compound interest, consider opening a Roth IRA for them. Roth IRAs are a great investment vehicle for kids because the earlier they start saving in a Roth IRA, the longer they have for their money to compound tax-free. Furthermore, kids’ income is usually low enough not to worry about the income limits on contributions that eventually prevent many adults from contributing to a Roth IRA.

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Top 3 Personal Finance Tips for Graduating Seniors

I was asked to share my top 3 personal finance tips with a class of local high school seniors. There are so many smart money habits new adults need. Where to start? I tried to focus on the ones that would set these newly minted adults off on the right path. Here’s what I came up with: […]

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Financial Literacy in the Time of Coronavirus

April was the 20th anniversary of Financial Literacy Month in the US. This year, the movement was overshadowed by the global coronavirus pandemic and has many wondering if financial literacy matters in the current environment. It matters more than ever! A new survey from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) finds that nearly nine in 10 (88 percent) Americans [...]

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Why Kids Should Work

Most parents try to teach kids the life skills they’ll need to thrive as adults. Some of those skills relate to money and work ethic. Sadly, particularly in affluent communities, children are often sheltered from the responsibilities and realities faced by adults. The percentage of high school-aged kids who work is at an all-time low, declining to 20% in 2013 [...]

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The Allowance Debate

It is our responsibility as parents to teach our kids the life skills they’ll need to thrive as adults. Some of the most important skills we can teach them relate to making smart money decisions. One topic that often provokes strong opinions relates to allowance: how much to give, whether to tie it to chores and what it should cover. [...]

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Making Summer Count

As the mother of two middle schoolers, at this time of year my thoughts turn to how to keep them busy over the summer. While we have a family vacation planned and they’ll go to a few camps, I also like them to learn something new over the summer. Given my job as a financial planner, that typically involves learning [...]

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Raising the Next Warren Buffett

As my kids have grown, I’ve tried to teach them important money concepts along the way. After all, the Council for Economic Education reported in its 2018 Survey of the States that only 16 states require any economics course work during K-12, and only seven states require students to take courses in personal finance. So, it’s up to us parents [...]

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Making Summer Really Count

If you’re like me, as summer break nears for my kids, I start to ponder how I can get the most out of the summer and make sure they learn something new or don’t slip too much academically during the break. Given my passion for financial literacy, I try to find ways to have them learn useful financial life skills. [...]

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How to Make Summer Really Count

With summer vacation around the corner, you might be wondering how you will keep your kids occupied all summer and not hear, “I’m bored”, constantly. While figuring out what to do on their own has its own benefits, if you’d like to offer them some helpful ideas, here are a few activities that can help them learn something useful, too. [...]

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Paying for College without Bankrupting the Retirement Plan

This time of year, parents of high school seniors may find themselves experiencing dual emotions related to their kids – pride over the top-tier colleges their child has been accepted to and shock over how much it’s going to cost. Another emotion might quickly set in for those who haven’t saved enough for college – panic over how in the world [...]

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