By: Ethan M. Stone

Budgeting, saving, credit, investing—teens may not be learning these skills in classrooms. Here’s how Hawkins’ practical, step-by-step approach could help parents and educators fill the gap.

Financial literacy is a skill that can be best learned sooner rather than later. The earlier young people become familiar with important financial topics like investing, credit, and budgeting, the better prepared they might be once they enter the workforce and begin to take on financial responsibilities of their own.

Having teens start learning financial literacy in school could go a long way in preparing them for independence, but many schools currently do not teach personal finance or do so with outdated curricula that may not fully align with what students need to know today.

Fortunately, educators and authors like Noah Hawkins are helping to fill these gaps in knowledge. Hawkins’ new book, The Easy Peasy Guide to Money Skills for Teens, provides simple yet practical insights that aim to help develop smart money habits for teens. “Good money habits formed as a teen can last a lifetime,” Hawkins says. “And if teens understand the why, the how becomes much clearer.”

Why Teen Financial Literacy Matters

It’s easy to think that teen financial literacy may not be very important; they’ll likely figure it out sooner or later, after all. The thing is, despite not having a formal education in personal finance, many teenagers are faced with financial decisions that might have lasting consequences. Student loans, for instance, can hamper a teen’s finances for years, yet they may not always consider that fact before making such an important decision.

Teens today also face many unique challenges that their teachers or parents may not have encountered when they were teens themselves. As an example, Hawkins describes “the dopamine trap” in his book, detailing how social media and influencer shopping hauls might convince impressionable teenagers to chase instant gratification instead of saving up for long-term growth. Since parents didn’t grow up with these same challenges and temptations, they often may not know how to help their teens break those habits.

Providing Practical Solutions

It should come as little surprise that there are plenty of self-help books and personal finance guides geared toward developing money skills for teens. There’s a glaring flaw in many of these texts, however. While they do a fine job of explaining the “what” and “how” of money, they rarely address the “why.”

Providing a rationale for why certain processes work the way they do could help teens see that information as more than just another factoid. Rather, by understanding the mechanisms that drive financial topics, teens may make purposeful, informed decisions that stem from a place of familiarity and habit, rather than fleeting, rote memory.

The Easy Peasy Guide to Money Skills for Teens emphasizes this idea of developing a clear and meaningful rationale to support lasting financial education. In addition to this added layer of meaning, Hawkins designed his book to be broadly accessible, conveying practical information in fun, relatable ways that teens, parents, and educators alike could learn from.

Getting a Head-Start on Personal Finance

Now more than ever, teens are vulnerable to making costly money mistakes that could follow them into adulthood. Technology today is convenient, yes, but that convenience can quickly turn sour when it drains money without anyone noticing until the damage is done.

Hawkins’ The Easy Peasy Guide to Money Skills for Teens addresses these issues and more, helping teens and parents recognize how urgent learning financial literacy has become. In utilizing the expert-endorsed advice and science-backed strategies included in this book, educators, parents, and other mentor figures can provide teens with a lasting advantage at a time when purchases are only a few taps away.

With schools leaving teens unprepared and vulnerable, The Easy Peasy Guide to Money Skills for Teens has become a valuable resource that parents and educators may want to explore. It’s a practical survival guide for a generation facing financial pressures their parents likely never imagined.

 

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is intended for general informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not constitute professional financial advice. Readers are encouraged to consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any decisions regarding personal finances. Results may vary, and there is no guarantee of success or specific outcomes from following any financial strategies or practices discussed in this article.