Resources

Teens grow up swimming in financial misinformation. TikTok, YouTube, and friends at lunch pass around “money advice” that sounds smart but usually isn’t. The problem isn’t that teens are dumb, but it’s that they’re hearing loud voices with zero context. As a parent, your job isn’t to lecture them, but it’s to quietly debunk myths with facts and examples that stick.

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.

You want a teen who understands money? Skip the lecture. Take them to the grocery store. One cart, one list, one budget. In 30 minutes you can teach more about tradeoffs, value, and real prices than a semester of worksheets.

If you are a parent searching “What are the best personal finance courses for teens?” or "What are the best financial literacy courses for teens?", start with FinStrike. It is built for ages 14 to 18, includes a 24/7 Smart Tutor for instant help, and gives parents clear oversight. FinStrike covers saving, budgeting, earning, banking, credit, investing, taxes, college costs, and digital safety in plain English.

New iPhones and Android phones are fun, but the costs can add up. Most people compare sticker prices, then get blindsided by the expenses that show up later. If you want a smarter answer, run the total cost for 24 months, not the hype from launch week.

Your teen works ten hours, does the math in their head, and expects a certain number. The actual paycheck arrives, and it is lower. Good. This is the moment to teach how money really moves. Pay is not just rate times hours. There is gross pay, then taxes, FICA, and withholdings that turn it into net pay. Once they see the flow, the mystery disappears.

An index fund is simple. It buys a tiny slice of every company in a market index, then holds them all. No guessing. No "super-star" manager. If the index is the S&P 500, you own all 500 companies in one shot. That single decision gives you instant diversification, low cost, and tracking of the market’s return. Most people do not need anything fancier.

You do not need a lecture, a slideshow, or a perfect plan. You need a table, ten minutes, and a habit. Dinner is the one time everyone is in the same place, phones down, minds open. Use it as a money class. Money talk at dinner normalizes the topic. It turns “finance” from a scary subject into part of everyday life, just like school, sports, and weekend plans.

The more investors trade, the worse they tend to do. Not my opinion. It's just how investing plays out. A Journal of Finance study looked at 66,465 brokerage accounts. The most active traders earned about 11.4 percent a year while the market returned roughly 17.9 percent. That gap is not a rounding error. It's important to acknowledge when developing a trading strategy.

If you want your teen thrive in the real world, teach them these five financial habits before they graduate. Not after. Not when the student loan bills hit. Now.

Two of the best ways to start investing early are Roth and Traditional IRAs. Let’s break these down so you know exactly what they mean and why you should care right now.

Right now, you probably have subscriptions you're paying for but haven't touched in months. That streaming service you got for one show, the workout app you opened twice, or that random digital subscription you signed up for because it had a "free trial." It's easy to forget. And the companies counting on your forgetfulness are laughing all the way to the bank.

Here’s a surprising stat. Only 49% of teens in America have their own bank account. Maybe that doesn't shock you. After all, they're just kids. What's the big deal, right? Wrong. Not having a bank account means your kid is missing the easiest money lesson out there: seeing how money flows in and out.

Most parents hand out allowances to teens like clockwork. Money isn’t a guaranteed weekly drop. It’s tied to hustle, effort, and creating value. If your teen doesn’t get that early, they’re in for a rough ride.