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Money Management University

08.08.2025 / Community First Credit Union

Financial Well-being

A Comprehensive Guide for Teaching Kids & Teens Financial Responsibility

Quick Links:

Teaching Money to Toddlers Teaching Digital Money to Young Children
Preparing Teens for Financial Success
Setting Goals & Responsibilities
Teaching Responsible Use of Payment Apps & Checking
Real Life Teaching Moments for Teens
Financial Controls for Parents
Keeping Teens' Money Safe
Lessons for Responsible Spending
Money Lessons for 18-year-olds
Teaching Budgeting to Young Adults
The Value of Credit Scores
Investing 101

Financial Foundations

When teaching fiscal responsibility to children, it is important to start young. There are fun and creative ways to teach the value of a dollar to toddlers as young as 3 years old. From old fashioned piggy banks and counting practices to children’s books, here are ways you can begin to instill solid financial awareness with your child.

Teaching the Value of Money to Toddlers

In the digital age, there are still relevant traditional ways to teach the foundations of money to toddlers. These fun and low risk lessons help to engrain the meaning of money into your child’s mind:

Piggy banks: This traditional toy provides a fun way for three to six-year-olds to learn basic counting, coin and dollar values, and even saving. This method also gives preschool and kindergarten aged children a visual aid to build upon when saving money. For example, label clear piggy banks or jars with savings goals such as “new bicycle” or another coveted item, and have them contribute a portion of their allowance. These jars help children see the money growing.
You can also use the three-jar system. Label jars for “spend,” “save,” and “give.” This practice teaches many lessons! From counting and saving to contributing to those less fortunate.
Reading is also a fun tool for toddlers to learn about money. The Dr. Seuss^® book titled “One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent^®” is a colorful children’s book that puts to rest the idea that money grows on trees. It also introduces banking and coin-minting.

Bonus tip – If you’ve considered opening a savings account or college fund for your child, the younger, the better.

Teaching Digital Money Discipline to Young Children

Some children in kindergarten and elementary school are already accustomed to gaming and mobile use. If your child has access to a cell phone, this can be a great way to teach them about digital money. Here are a few ways your child can expand upon what they’ve learned about “real” money:

Give an allowance. Giving your child manageable chores in exchange for money reinforces its value. Handling a chore list can also help his or her negotiation skills (i.e. bargaining for a raise), ability to save toward a goal, and more.
Involve them in digital transactions. From five to seven years of age, many children are ready to learn about “invisible money,” such as debit or credit card transactions. It is not uncommon for children to have the idea that invisible money is an unlimited resource. To show that invisible funds are just like “real” money that is spent, involve your child in ATM withdrawals by showing the before and after balance, or guide them through a digital transaction and show that the cost of the item(s) plus tax and shipping were deducted from your account.
Give a gaming currency allowance. Invisible money lessons also come in the form of microtransactions on many popular games. These kinds of gaming points are usually purchased in incremental amounts, using a credit or bank card. Help your child understand the translation of microtransactions to real funds from an account.
Introduce a child’s savings account. Many financial institutions offer savings accounts for children. To build solid money discipline at an early age, open an account, keep your child involved with its online banking interface and monthly statements. You can also teach them to contribute part of an allowance to this account. Community First Credit Union offers the Youth Advantage Savings Account that can be opened as soon as your child is born, allowing you to contribute to their savings at a very early age.

Preparing Tweens and Teens for Financial Success

Adolescence is a pivotal time to instill good money practices and build upon the financial foundations you have given your child in their toddler and elementary years. With your oversight, allow them to use payment apps, view statements, and other practices.

For 13 to 17-year-olds, there are tools that allow you to let go of the reigns while still providing protective guardrails. Many financial institutions, including Community First Credit Union, offer teen checking accounts. Here are some ways you can guide your teenaged child toward financial success.

Set Financial Goals and Responsibilities

Open a teen account. Teen accounts, such as the SureBalance Teen Checking Account with Community First, give teens the chance to manage their spending and budgeting without worrying about overdrafts or added fees.
Start a savings goal: Get your child excited about approaching adulthood by involving them in a savings goal. Match a portion of their contributions and keep them involved and excited about meeting a post-graduation goal or buying a car, for example.
Teach budgeting: Teach household budgeting and management by involving your teen in bill pay. Delegate a certain portion of a bill and have them pay it each month.

Teach Teens Responsible Use of Payment Apps and Checking Account Use

Many teens are picking up part time jobs and side gigs, which provides an excellent teaching opportunity for money management. With the prevalence of payment apps like Venmo^® and Zelle^®, your teen may already be using digital money. There are ways for you to get involved and ensure they use these technologies responsibly.

Real Life Teaching Moments for Your Teen

Your teen just earned $40 for dog sitting the Smiths’ golden retriever all weekend. Instead of dealing with cash, the neighbor sends it directly through Venmo^®. With a Venmo^® Teen Account linked to a Community First SureBalance Teen Checking Account, your teen can receive money digitally—and you can monitor it all.
Out to Eat with Friends? Your teen picks up the tab at a pizza place and their friends want to pay them back. Instead of stressing over change, they can split the bill instantly using Venmo^® or Zelle^® (through their Community First account). It’s a great lesson in money management and trust — and a chance for you to talk about smart spending. See instructions here.
Sending Money to Family Members? Got grandparents who like to send birthday money? Or an older sibling who needs to pay your teen back for movie tickets? With Zelle^®, your teen (with your permission) can send and receive money directly between bank accounts.

Financial Controls for Parental Peace of Mind

With the rising cost of living, parents are understandably vigilant with finances. Managing household budgets, meeting savings goals, and juggling other responsibilities can feel overwhelming. There are tools to help you gain peace of mind while teaching your teen financial responsibility in uncertain times.

Teens are handling more responsibility and information than ever before. As they take on jobs, dating, bills and other things that require money management skills, parents need guardrails to protect their children and their finances.

Here are ways that Community First Youth and Teen Accounts give parents peace of mind.

SureBalance™ Teen Checking: Gives teens experience with spending limits. You'll have peace of mind knowing exactly what your teen’s balance is. It's like having a pre-paid card but better.
Zelle^® Access: Available directly through the Community First app for bank-to-bank transfers. See instructions at the link provided.
Parental Oversight: View balances and monitor activity when needed.
Safe + Secure: Bank-level security and fraud monitoring.

Other Ways to Teach Responsible Spending to Teens

Give your teen gift cards or pre-paid cards in place of gifts
Use gaming to teach financial literacy. Introduce a gaming budget or allowance and make sure your teen sticks to it.
Set boundaries together: Talk about how much is okay to spend—and on what.
Enable multi-factor authentication: Keep accounts secure.
Discuss online scams: Emphasize only sending money to trusted people.
Review transactions as a family: Make it a routine—just like reviewing report cards.
Celebrate good choices: Did your teen save birthday money instead of spending it all? High five that!

Money Lessons for 18-Year-Olds and College Students

As teens graduate from high school and set out into their post-graduate plans, parents have a huge opportunity to teach their kids about setting and sticking to a budget, managing credit cards and debt responsibly, and investing for their future. Learn more about how you can use young adulthood experiences to teach good money habits.

How to Teach Monthly Budgeting to Young Adults

Highschool graduation is an exciting time for kids and parents. It’s a time when dreams and plans can become reality, especially with good money habits. Here are some great ways to teach 18-year-olds and young adults how to set and stick to a budget:

Lay out their income in entirety. Start with their net pay from their job and include any other funds they may receive. For example, money from their youth savings account, grants, scholarship money or other funds that are left after expenses and books.
Create budget categories. Include a saving and spending category. Instill a “pay yourself first” mentality and discuss a manageable savings portion your child can stick to.
For the spending category, include budgets for lunch or daily meals, gas money or transportation, phone, necessities, and any other relevant items. The second portion of the spending category can include entertainment, memberships, subscriptions, and any non-essential things. There are helpful budgeting apps that can help your college aged child stay on track. Check out apps such as Goodbudget . See more ideas here!
Pick a budgeting strategy, such as the 50/30/20 rule. This rule says that 50% of their monthly income goes to necessary expenses, 30% goes to other expenses or non-essentials, and 20% goes to savings.
Set savings goals. A goal is a great way to motivate your child to stay on track and avoid frivolous spending. For a large purchase like a vehicle, set a special purpose savings account and allot a portion of the monthly budget to it.
Track spending habits. Visuals are always a great reminder and motivator to stay on budget. Have your child use a printable habit tracker to reflect on their spending. It’s easy to see how fast a daily iced coffee can add up and keep them from reaching financial goals.
Adjust the budget. If after a few months, you see that your child is constantly overspending on a category, move the budget around. On the other hand, if they are underspending in a category, discuss moving that into the savings portion.
Find fun ways to live minimally. The “underconsumption” trend being shared by social media influencers is a relevant way to influence young adults to avoid wasting money on items they don’t need. Challenge your child (and yourself) to live minimally by avoiding regularly buying new clothes, the latest electronics, and other items and opt for lived experiences and connections with others.

Teaching the Value of Credit Scores to Young Adults

Your child’s credit score will follow them through life and become the basis for financial flexibility. Help your 18-year-old establish credit in a responsible way with the following tips:

Show your 18-year-old what a credit score is and how it is calculated.
Teach the 5 Cs of Credit.
Assist your child in opening a credit card account. The Visa ^® Platinum Credit Card is a great option, as it offers a low interest rate and is great to help build credit.
Show the impact of only making a minimum payment, and how to keep good credit utilization. Provide a visual example of how much they will wind up paying over an extended period on a balance or purchase. Credit cards are also great credit-builders! You can help your child understand that interest can be avoided when the balance is paid in full each month.
Guide your child through the perks of different credit cards, such as cash back offers and rewards points that can help them.
Introduce terminology like annual percentage rate (APR) and how it will impact their finances.
Discuss responsible spending. Help set limits per category of spending on the card.
Push the importance of making payments on time.

Credit cards and loans are valuable financial tools that most people use to live, but it is important to instill a sense of caution about taking on debt. If your child does incur debt that becomes hard to manage, there are ways to get above it.

Investing 101 for Young Adults

As teens emerge into adulthood and face a fresh chapter of life filled with new challenges, they may find it hard to remember to invest in their financial future. This is a great opportunity for parents to teach the basics of investing. Here are some quick tips on helping your college aged child, or young adult, understand investing.

Help them to open a high-yield savings account. These accounts pay interest on their deposits at rates far above what traditional savings or checking accounts pay.
Introduce CDs (certificates of deposit). This simple investment strategy can teach good habits.
Introduce them to Community First Investment Services Wealth Advisors where they can receive individual guidance on how to build their financial future. From understanding 401Ks, IRAs and more, they will be given valuable lessons from experienced investment advisors.

These are just a few of the ways you can introduce investing to your young adult or college kid and build a sense of excitement around it!

Setting an Example

Setting a good example is one of the best ways to teach children fiscal responsibility. Sticking to budgets, setting savings goals, and avoiding unnecessary debt throughout your child’s formative years is your biggest opportunity to pass on good money habits. Your child will thank you later in life!

Community First Credit Union of Florida has the financial tools you and your child need to succeed in budgeting, saving and investing. Start with a free financial health check through BALANCE, or contact our team to discuss ways to get ahead of your child's financial wellness, whether they are 6 or 16.