Teen Freelancing, Allowance Experiment, Money Anxiety: Family Finance Picks (#52)

Here are my top three kids & finance picks from around the web last month:

Son’s Free-Lance Car Wash Idea a Throwback to a Different Era

I’m a huge proponent of teens getting summer jobs. A summer job is a critical skill and character building experience. It’s also a terrific excuse for parents to collaborate with their teens on one of my favorite family finance tips: the “Family 401(k).” That’s why I’m so dismayed by the increasingly dismal work prospects for teens these days. As John points out in his column, teenagers with enough “hormonal energy to power a small aircraft carrier” are a “bad bunch to have sitting around doing nothing.”

Yes, sadly, teen jobs are scarce, but maybe our teens just have to get a bit more aggressive about creating their own opportunities. John’s son did. Read about his free-lance car wash experience here.

July carnival of Natural Parenting: Making an Allowance

by Crackerdog Sam on Hobo Mama

Sam shares the early results from his allowance experiment with his 4 year old son Mikko. The post includes wonderfully concrete examples of how an allowance, when used properly, can help teach good money habits. The pictures are cute too. My favorite quote comes at the end:

We learn by doing. We teach, best, by coming alongside during the process.

I love it — well said and perfectly aligned with the FamZoo philosophy.

Read about Mikko’s early allowance adventures here.

My Kids Are Freaked Out About Money

by Kathryn Higgins on The Faster Times

Kathryn shares the anxieties her children feel about money and how the downturn in the American economy has fueled their fears. While there is unfortunate anxiety, I find most of her kid’s money perspectives extremely laudable. It’s a touching, thought-provoking piece. Read it here.

We’re constantly scouring the Internet looking for articles related to family finances and teaching kids good personal finance habits. You can visit our ever growing list of family finance bookmarks here. We’re up to 1,756 now!

2 comments:

August 15, 2011 8:48 AM Angie Burton aka The Blog Post Author: I, too, am passionate about the importance of teenagers getting jobs.. When teens learn responsibility and establish a good work ethic, it will positively affect not only their futures, but also the future of our nation. As adults, they’ll have greater value for the things they’ve worked hard for and they’ll have better perspectives about finances and credit. How many teenagers really get the difference between $400 and $4,000? Our present economic culture is a very real consequence of too many years of expecting immediate gratification enabled by easy credit. I stumbled across an idea that helps teens get jobs when I was helping my own 16-year old daughter get a job. it's called application bling and it's a repositionable cling applicants apply to their job application that highlights their goals and best qualities/achievments. Search application bling on google and learn more about how it works. My daughter and 6 friends used it and all got jobs.
August 15, 2011 9:23 AM Bill Dwight aka The Blog Post Author: Thanks for stopping by Angie. Just watched your Application Bling video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzLXePnGiPU

Clever idea. Best of luck with your product!

-Bill