Tips, Tools, & Tactics: The Best Resources for Women's Financial Planning

Sharing the Wealth:  Helping Children and Grandchildren be Money Smart

You don't need to be a money expert to offer important information and guidance to younger friends and family.  There are some good resources designed specifically for children and young adults to use.  Others offer advice to you on how and what to teach children about a money topic such as budgeting, interest, or credit.  Another category of resources is web sites designed specifically for the child to use.  These are often interactive and you can email the link directly to the child, making this a great resource for long-distance grandparents.

 
Family Education Network -- With something for children of all ages (they call the sections Your Little Kids, Your Kids, and Your Teens) the "At Home" section in each age category offers a "Kids & Money" area that covers the financial challenges children of that age pose for the adults who care for them, such as education related finances.  There are also suggested age appropriate money activities for children or children and adults to share.

Consumer Jungle -- This site describes itself as a "new web-based program that helps turn high school students into savvy consumers without putting them to sleep.  There is a camp for everyone.  Students will discover a treasure trove of games, and teachers will find free classroom materials.  There's even something for parents -- a section filled with tips on how to help the young adults in their lives find their way safely through the real world."  The sections include:  Credit Cave, Surviving Solo, and Jingle in the Jungle (which is about the cost of phones, cell phones, email and pagers).

Institute of Consumer Financial Education -- While this site is designed to sell financial education books, videos, and tapes, there are a few good free publications you can download or read on-line.  18 Ways to Teach Children or Grandchildren the Value of Money has some good suggestions for getting started with younger children.

Children and Money Series:  Teaching Children Money Habits for Life -- from the University of Minnesota Extension Service, this terrific publication provides a readable and complete overview of how to teach good money habits.  It provides general background and outlines, by age group and stages of development, children's understanding and use of money as well as conflicts about money.  While many of the activities are most easily put in place by a parent or grandparent who is with the child everyday, some suggestions are well suited to long-distance or less frequent child-adult contact.

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Brought to you by:
The National Center on Women & Aging  for the POWERCenter
 

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