Mom You Don’t Know Finance!

In a recent post I mentioned that I had given a talk on what parents can do to help young people become financially savvy.  The next question I wanted to discuss from that night was “what if your parents don’t have the knowledge to teach you finance?” – which is a great question.

While parents usually have all the right answers, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, as hard as a parent might try, they just don’t have the right information, and there is nothing wrong with that – if everyone knew every answer, life would be pretty boring!

So what can a teenager or young adult do if mom and dad can’t teach you about financial management? Well, there are a ton of options you just have to look around to find the best one for you. It’s always easiest to start with people you know, so ask your family and friends if they know how to manage their finances, and if so, ask them to share their insights with you. But remember, it’s important to remember not to stop there; you need to continue your education journey!

Next, ask your parents, friends, and family if they can recommend any professionals that you can talk to. It doesn’t matter whether it is a banker, an accountant, a financial planner, or even just one of their friends who is really knowledgeable in the subject of financial management. Most bankers, accountants, and financial planners will be happy to sit down with a young person who is looking for knowledge and have a short talk about how to start managing your finances – and in most cases there is no charge for doing this!

Don’t forget that there is a world of knowledge out there in both traditional and new media. Pick up a book, start reading a blog, listen to a podcast, or find a newspaper or magazine which talks about financial management – your goal should be to read as much as possible until you have a good understanding of what you need to know (it’s all about how comfortable you are with the topic). Learn the basics, and once you have those figured out, start looking at the more advanced topics like investing.

Finally, the best way to really learn is to start doing. Start incorporating some of the information you’ve picked up, by starting to track your expenses, create a budget, and set and meet financial goals. It’s also a great idea to share your information with others – one of the best ways to really gain an understanding of a topic is to teach it to someone else.

What are your suggestions/ideas on how to learn about financial management?

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