Why Your Teen Needs Money Wins More Than Money Lessons
- Marshall Pastore
- Oct 8
- 2 min read
FinStrike helps teens build real-world money skills through a four-year financial literacy curriculum, a Smart Tutor that helps students around the clock, and extensive free resources for parents and students.
You can’t lecture your way to financial literacy. You can’t “tell” your teen how money works any more than you can tell them how to ride a bike. They have to feel it. The balance, the small wobble, and the moment they finally get it.
That’s the difference between teaching mode and coaching mode.
Teaching Mode for Teens: Talking at Them About Money
Teaching mode is what most of us default to as parents. It sounds like, “Save 10% of your income,” “Credit cards are dangerous,” or “You should start investing early.” All true, but for teens, it’s white noise.
You are giving answers to questions they haven’t asked yet. You’re passing down principles they can’t yet connect to real life.
It’s not that they don’t care. It’s that they haven’t experienced the pain or reward that makes those lessons stick.
Coaching Mode for Teens: Creating Small Wins with Money
Coaching mode flips the script. It’s not about telling. It’s about designing little experiments that let your teen see money work in real time.
A few examples:
Give them a $50 challenge: “Double it in 30 days, any legal way you want.” Then debrief what worked and what didn’t.
Hand them the family grocery budget for one week and set a savings target. If they come in under budget, they keep half the savings.
Let them find and negotiate a used item online. Say, a bike or gaming console. Guide the process, but let them do the talking.
Each small win gives them a “money memory.” And memories beat lectures.
Why Coaching Works
Coaching isn’t about control. It’s about context. You’re not explaining compound interest, but you’re showing them that saving for something and watching it grow feels good. You’re not ranting about high-interest debt, but you’re letting them compare the cost of “buy now” versus “wait two paychecks.”
Coaching transforms money from an abstract subject into a real skill. And here’s the secret: once your teen experiences even one win like earning, saving, or negotiating, they start chasing that feeling again. The behavior snowballs.
How to Shift Gears This Week
Pick one area. Saving, spending, or earning. Don’t try to fix all three at once.
Set a goal they can hit in 7–14 days. Maybe saving $25 from their next paycheck or researching three better phone plans.
Ask reflection questions. “What surprised you?” “What would you do differently next time?”
Celebrate the result, not the amount. The goal is progress, not profit.
Coaching mode turns money into a team sport. You’re on the sidelines, giving strategy and feedback, not playing for them.
The next time you start a financial talk with your teen, stop and ask yourself: Am I teaching, or am I coaching?
Because the truth is, the teens who win with money aren’t the ones who were told what to do. They’re the ones who were trusted to try, fail, and learn their way forward.