Teaching Teenagers How to Manage Money
Money! One of a father’s greatest sources of joy is to raise his sons from an independent teen to a strong, God-fearing man who can one day lead his own household. A vital part of manly training comes down to teaching our teenage sons proper money management skills.
It will be their job to provide for their families in the near future. I’ve worked not only with my son but also other teenage boys who haven’t had a strong male influence in their lives. I have come up with a basic guide to help parents aid their teens in successfully making and manage their own money.
Provide Opportunities For Enrichment
In my family, we don’t give allowances for our children nor do we pay them for doing their basic chores. I don’t want my children to have the idea there will always be someone handing out money to them for little to no work. So while they are welcome to do chores for the neighbors and find part time jobs when they are old enough, we do not pay them to be a part of our family and contribute like they should.
Instead, I have a list of work in our house my wife and I continually update with jobs. Next to the job is the fixed rate we are willing to pay. So extra household projects like stripping and repainting the fence can serve multiple purposes.
- I demonstrate how the work is done and my sons will learn new skills when they take the job.
- They receive a better understanding of what kind of projects fathers and husband normally have to tackle.
- My boys can take pride in the work they accomplished while also making money.
Since I am the one who pays my children at the end of a project, my children learn one more lesson: a poor job results in less money (or none). They are allowed to redo the project if they want to receive the full allotment of money.
This teaches them that sloppy work is noticed and will not be rewarded.
Practical Savings For Teens
Once money hits the hands of a teenager, it can almost seem to evaporate. I know my sons have items they want when the jobs on the project board start to be done in rapid succession.
However, before they started receiving money, I covered two very important topics. First was the law of the Lord’s tithing.
In Proverbs 3:9, we are told to “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” I explained to my sons when they received money, they were to set aside their tithing money first and not just give whatever pittance they had left after their spending. Real men are Godly men and put Him first above all other considerations.
Biblical money Management
Once a tenth of their earning has been set aside for the Lord, I taught them to follow the same rule for their personal savings. One-tenth for the Lord and one-tenth for their future.
At first they balked, complaining I was suggesting they save up all their money. But I walked them through the different times where they would want to have a nest egg of money saved up and how they could even earn money while it was being saved.
While my sons opened accounts at our local credit union, there are many options for teens who want an interest-bearing savings account. Impress upon your children that the Lord expects His people to be prepared as clearly stated in Matthew.
Bible Verse
Matthew 25:1-4, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.”
If our sons are to be part of the group wise five who were prepared for the Lord’s coming, then it is up to their fathers to make sure they are prepared to be both spiritual, emotional and financial providers for their homes.
Who is Tyler Jacobson?
Tyler enjoys going to the mountains near his home in Draper, Utah to connect with his wife and children through camping, hiking, and quality time together. When he isn’t rebooting in the outdoors, he shares his fatherly experiences with the world through writing and creative designs. Tyler shares the ups and downs of family life and the solutions he’s found through lengthy research and involvement in the industry and his own experiences to help parents everywhere. Follow Tyler on: Twitter | LinkedIn
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