|
 |
Checking Accounts: An Important Step For Teens
 Teens spend billions of dollars in earnings each year on clothing, food, and entertainment. Once they sample this newfound spending power, it's a good time to encourage them to open a Checking Account. Parents, do so when they're still under your roof and you can guide the first efforts in basic money management. Even more supervision may be appropriate if your child has a Debit Card.
Begin basic instruction before your teen even opens an account. Point out a check's seven elemental lines and emphasize accuracy and legibility when filling it out. Have your teen practice filling out all but the signature line when you write an actual check.
Instill the habit of reconciling the checkbook register with monthly statements. Take your check carbons or stubs and debit card receipts and — with your teen — record transactions and calculate the balance in your own check register as you pay monthly bills. Then, when your teen's first account statement comes, help compare the balance in his or her register with that on the account statement. If figures don't match, work through the numbers together, double-checking the math and making sure to record all checks, fees, deposits, withdrawals, and debit transactions.
Make it clear that once your teen opens the account, he or she cannot spend more money than is in the account. Explain the costly financial and legal consequences of writing an overdraft or having a check bounce.
And, remind teens that checks and debit cards are stand-ins for money that must be kept in a secure place. That means they never should give a blank check to a buddy, lend out a debit card, divulge a personal identification number (PIN), or even be careless with deposit slips, which may reveal account information.
Once your teen gets the basics down and successfully manages a checking account, it's on to other good financial habits — like acquiring and repaying that first car loan.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
Greater Kentucky Credit Union, Inc. does not knowingly collect, maintain or use personal information from our website about children under 13 years of age, and this website is not designed to attract children. If a child under 13 sends personal information online, we will only use that information to respond directly to the child, notify parents, or seek parental consent.
|
