Young people are at risk of being sent out into the world without the necessary knowledge to make sound financial decisions that will set them up for future success.
The vast majority of U.S. states do not require high school students to take even one financial literacy course in order to graduate, leaving parents with the responsibility of educating teens on personal finance and investing.
But that’s not happening. Studies show most teens are not being taught money management at home.
A recent study by Fidelity Investments found that while seven out of ten teens aged 13 to 17 said they look to family members as financial role models, only 34% reported regularly discussing the topic with their parents.
“The important thing is for parents to start talking about money with their teens early and often,” says Fidelity’s VP of Youth Investing, John Boroff. “Our data shows teens who talk about money with their parents are more confident on financial topics.”
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The problem is that a lot of parents aren’t confident talking about money, themselves, according to one expert.
Dale Alexander has spent the past 34 years as an employee benefits broker to the education industry. But the Georgia native has ramped up the use of his certified financial planner designation in recent years, finding a new calling teaching young adults about money after his own kids asked him to talk to their friends about the topic.