Consider Looking for Ways for Kids to Make Money To Pay for Their Education

One of the big pressures of the teen years is saving for college. With the rising costs of education, it is probably wise to look for ways for kids to make money to pay for their education. In addition, I want to give you some practical things to remember as parents with teenagers.

First off you need to spend time looking for scholarships and grants for your child. The best part about these is they don't have to be paid back. Grants and scholarships can often be applied in a number of ways. For kids to make money while they are in college some grants can cover other expenses such as housing, books, and sometimes even spending money. There are numerous places to do research for these types of aid. In fact, searching online is a great starting point. Make sure you don't pay anyone to do this because all of these sites should be free.

In addition to searching for scholarships, it makes sense to begin saving for college as well. You have many vehicles for this such as regular savings and maybe even a 529 plan. You should also consider having your child put money towards this if they are working.

Here are a few other things to consider as you navigate your teen through these teen years.

1. You are your child's example. If you want your child to make good financial decisions then you need to make sure you are making them. You have to lead by your actions and not just your words.

2. Talk about the benefits of being in good financial shape. Since you have introduced credit talk about credit rating and how that can affect every area of their life. It can affect whether or not they get the job. It can affect how much interest they pay for a house, car, or insurance. It can also keep you in a position to take advantage of financial opportunities that present themselves.

3. Don't allow your children to overwork - Although it's important to look at ways for kids to make money if they find work help them keep it in the right perspective. Work should be used to supplement school and should never interfere with their primary school work. Since most of these jobs are only temporary it's OK to let one go if your child can't handle it.

So parents if your child is in their teen years, be thankful it only happens to them once. If you plan correctly your teens will make it through unscathed and will be in a positive position to have an exciting financial future.

Credit: Nicole Clemow

Dangers Of Lacking Financial Education And Giving Value To Others

In this article, I am going to talk about the dangers of lacking financial and values education which are just as important as our school education which mainly and still focuses on theory and academic score having read and understood the books by Robert Kiyosaki like Rich Dad Poor Dad as well as watching all videos of Eben Pagan on what it takes to succeed in business, relationships, wealth, and improving all areas of life as his subscriber and customer which is in contrary to what we have been taught and conditioned to think and do by our parents, grandparents, and teachers.

Truth being said, most of us only think of making money for ourselves, families, and loved ones if we are married and have kids without understanding that in order to make money, we need to give and deliver value to others which is just as important. That also ties in with what Zig Ziglar said that you can have everything you want in life if you give enough people what they want in life. The only knowledge we have is that we have to study hard to get good grades and qualifications so that we can get great jobs with high pay in order to have our homes, marry, retire, and live happily ever after. While our parents - especially those from low and middle-income families - told us this out of concern, this sort of mentality is sadly outdated in the current 21st century. And even more so with digital technology looking to shape and change the way we live, study and work.

A rich parent - for instance, the current US President Trump - will never tell his children that. Sure at first glance, they will tell their children to respect others in public and tell them off if they are disobedient and do not behave. But behind closed doors of their homes only known to family members and maid serving them, they will share with the other things that poor and average parents will never share with their kids.

Which is while making and saving money is important, delivering value and smart investing to maximize it are just as important.

According to Eben Pagan in his YouTube videos, he said after years of studying business and wealth, he learned two critical things. One is that people do not like to give away their hard-earned money without getting any value in return. When I say value, I am not talking about anything that sales and marketing people offered them. But what people really need and want for themselves and loved ones. The second is that money has a hole in its bucket and unless you know how to earn, you will lose every dollar you spent never mind on what things.

Here is another truth of life that I discovered after my very own study and research on other articles and blog posts besides reading and watching videos by those gurus. That is money is never given or distributed evenly all the time. It is only for those who delivered the most value as in helping and making a difference to others' lives as well as those that others feel closest to. Even if it is otherwise, most people will squander on things they like short-term but are not essential long-term. Especially luxury items such as cars, condos, gadgets, and jewelry to name a few. And when they spend all their hard-earned money with little or no savings, they will usually resort to those things.

1. Taking on 1 to 2 part-time jobs on top of their main one just to be able to cope with the daily expenses and support their family.

2. Borrowing from families and friends,

3. Asking for loans from creditors, loan sharks, and banks,

4. Applying for credit cards,

5. Gambling in casinos, lottery, and sports betting

While there is nothing wrong with the first though it might put additional stress on individuals' health and well-being, there is everything wrong with the other four which I myself was guilty of in the second and fourth.

Because every time you borrowed, you needed to pay back as we Asians have a very strong ethnic and principle on it. If they are not carefully abided by, tragedies may occur. Not just on individuals who cannot pay back and lose everything but their families as in their parents, parents-in-law, spouse and children as well.

And the saddest truth is when the family is poor, the spouse has to work or take an extra job as well to bear the costs and the children will have to give up their passion, interest, and even studies just to work early to copy with the family burden costs.

For the rich, it is another story. Suppose if one or both your parents are running the company as bosses or CEOs, you will be required to help them out upon completing your studies.

Otherwise, they will be judged as "selfish and unfilial who only think of themselves, inconsiderate and uncaring about their families' well-being."

That is if they want to pursue their ambitions, interests, and passions they once have as children but are dismissed by most parents as a naive child words, play, and who are just asking them what they like to be when they grow up simply to make fun of them.

It may sound weird to you but that is the situation in my country Singapore.

This explains why most people are conditioned to study hard, work hard, save hard and retire comfortably with just one working job income they see as honest earnings.

Any income incurred outside are dismissed by baby boomers in particular - as a fraud from cheating other people of their hard-earned money which is partially true with some entrepreneurs but it is wrong to dismiss every business owner because of a few rotten eggs.

Given the fact that government supports them because they are our pioneers, very little room is given for youth development not just in terms of creativity and innovation but in terms of money and wealth management be it creation, multiplication, and preservation.

The only things they know are saving, working, and borrowing money as well as buying insurance policies from financial advisors who may or may not be acting in the interest of their clients.

Hence their ignorance, overspending, and not earning enough leads them to be over-dependence on the government to the extent of asking more and blaming the government when things are not going the way they expected and wanted. That will cause serious implications on our economy and society well-being in general be it relationships and the daily essentials of life we, our families and future generations need.

I don't mean to sound arrogant but if I am in the shoes of Minister for Education, I will make financial education compulsory as one of the main subjects. Especially when it comes to generating, growing, and saving money while still acting in the interest of others as in giving value.

Which most people need to know but in actual truth, they don't which is absolutely critical.

Except for a selected few.

Like Warren Buffet, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, and Eben Pagan I earlier mentioned.

Credit: Amuro Wesley

Stock Market For Kids - What You Need To Know To Begin Investing At A Young Age

Is the stock market for kids? Should kids really begin investing at a young age? Absolutely yes! Actually, investing when you are younger is the best time to begin, because at this point you generally don't have a lot of money to risk, and you can begin learning the ropes at a very early age, and you will achieve financial freedom very quickly.

So you are looking for some stock market for kids investing tips? Here are some great ways to help you begin learning the market now, and therefore avoid the learning curve most investors don't go through until their adult years.

First of all, here's the first stock market for kids investing tip you must know: be absolutely sure you are financially educated before you begin investing. One of the biggest causes of the market fluctuations we see today is a lack of financial education among most investors.

All too often, investors place too much faith in a financial analyst to guide them with their investments. Instead of investing in a company with the eye on long term profit, most people view the investment as a quick hit thing, a way to get in, make some quick money, and sell quickly. The world's top stock market investors don't think this way.

You see, when you are investing your money in a company, you are buying part of the business itself. If you were to buy a real business, don't you think it would probably be a good idea to look at the companies' finances and determine if it was a good investment or not?

However, for some reason most investors separate a companies' stock market price from the company itself, and think of themselves as only buying the stock price, instead of a portion of the company. When thinking this way, they will often only look at the company's stock price, and not even bother to check its' financial statements. Short tem, this can sometimes work.

However, if you want to invest in a company for its' long term profit potential (and this is what most of the world's top investors do) you need to know the companies' profitability and its' future outlook. Without this knowledge, you can never hope to make a lot of money in the market.

Congratulations! You are about to embark on an incredible journey, and at a very young age!
Most people don't begin investing their money until much later in life, making it very difficult for them to build up any significant wealth. Hopefully these stock market for kids tips will help you get on the road to financial freedom very quickly.

Credit: Josh Neumann

Personal Financial Education Tips For Parents

Personal financial education is an essential element of preparing our children for the financial realities of the 21st century.

Personal financial education and help develop skills in money management for college students will help students avoid many of the problems their peers will face. Consider these statistics. According to the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy "81 percent grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take to pay off a credit card balance making only the minimum payments". What's more, 54 percent reported having overdrawn their bank account.

Below are four ways we can take the first steps to provide our children a personal financial education and provide skills in money management for college students.

Mindset. With all the negative news out today one of the most important things we can provide our kids is help to develop the right financial mindset. There is a variety of money management for college student's courses available that miss this important element of providing our children a practical financial education.

Parents, it's up to you to make sure your children develop the right financial mindset. One of the ways that young adults can build their financial futures is to eliminate all negative thoughts on money. It's important to share with our children that the majority of wealthy people started with nothing and built up thanks to real-world personal financial literacy training. Understanding and providing our kids with the right mindset is the first step in a practical financial education course.

Two important questions that we can ask our kids so their mindset is focused on their financial future include:

- Describe the lifestyle you want to live? - What is the investment associated with that lifestyle choice?

Start Building Credit Early. One of the simplest personal financial education lessons we can teach is showing our kids how to build their credit. Classes on money management for college students are great however it is important our kids know about credit long before school.

On an averaged priced car having good credit, as opposed to bad credit, can save you over ten thousand dollars. It is important that personal financial education courses show our kids how to build their credit while they are young.

Once your child has money saved, a working budget, and can control their spending they can get a secured credit card. Student credit cards, when used properly, can be a tool to help build their credit. They can start to purchase inexpensive items and pay them off in full each month. That shows creditors that you're mature enough to handle the responsibility of credit, and you make your payments.

Finding a Cause. No personal financial education program and courses on money management for college students are complete without lessons on giving back. By doing something that creates a positive change in the world and motivates our kids to succeed in all areas of their life. So not only does doing the right thing help others, eventually, it helps the Good Samaritans too.

Set up the proper accounts. Another important element of personal financial education courses and classes on money management for college students is having the right account set up. Each student should set up their checking account, savings account, IRAs, and brokerage account immediately.

All these accounts can be set up to work automatically. So when bills are paid automatically, money is saved & invested for you automatically. This helps you keep a consistent investment plan in place and hopefully will help you achieve long-term financial security.

By providing your kids a personal financial education they will have the skills to make the most of their life. Help them get a head start to achieving financial freedom and eliminate their money worries forever.

Credit: Vince Shorb

Ways For Kids To Earn Money

Thinking of ways for kids to earn money before they are old enough to have a regular job can seem like a challenge.

Years ago, before child labor laws, it was so normal for kids to be working alongside adults that the very thought of looking for ways for kids to make money would have been ridiculous! Sometimes, the money earned by kids kept a family from starvation.

We live in better times now. There is usually plenty to eat, and we expect our kids to focus on their education, not support the family.

However, the school system in the Western world is highly geared to producing good employees. There are real risks if you leave your child's financial education to the so-called "education experts". Remember that the teachers, the inspectors, the administrators, the people who write the curriculum guidelines, and the politicians who make the laws about education are all, themselves, employees. Many of them have never been anything else.

It's up to parents to instill that good old-fashioned value of self-reliance and encourage kids to get out and make money for themselves.

Kids can do all sorts of things to earn money. The only limit is your imagination.

Babysitting

Baking for busy working mothers

Collecting aluminum cans

Cleaning swimming pools

Gardening

Letter-box leaflet drops

Running errands

Dog washing

Selling things on eBay

Making jewelry

Making My Space backgrounds

Busking

Collecting for charity on commission

Buying bulk candy and selling individual pieces

Entertainers at kids' parties

Exercising horses

Breeding rats (or other pets)

Comic book rental library

Toy rental library

Collecting lost golf balls

Washing cars

... and hundreds more!

Not so long ago, kids didn't need to look for ways to earn money, because 95% or more of the population were self-employed. People worked on their own farms, in retail, or in cottage industries. Kids grew up surrounded by commerce, watching the exchange of valuable services for money, and inhaling the principles of adding value and making a profit with their every breath.

These days, the majority of people depend on someone else's entrepreneurial spirit to generate revenue and pay them a wage directly, or they are indirectly relying on those same business owners because they work for a government-funded by taxing the private sector and its employees.

With this shift from enterprise to job-seeking has come to a corresponding shift from self-reliance to dependence. We have almost lost the ability to take care of ourselves financially.

Most people are expecting an employer or the government to take care of them when they can no longer work. Or, worse, they aren't even thinking about how they might survive financially beyond this year, this month, or even this week.

Basic entrepreneurship should be part of every child's education. But we can't expect the employees who teach in schools to pass on skills they don't have. As with the other crucial life skills like dental hygiene, eating right, and avoiding poisons, teaching the skills of money and business is very much the parent's responsibility. Help your kids to find ways to earn money, and build their skills for life.

Credit: Jenny Ford

Youth Financial Education & Money Education Courses For Youth

Providing your children a practical youth financial education course is now more important than ever.

Whether your children are going to attend a community college or a big-name University, we are giving our kids lots of 'school subject' smarts but not 'real world, improve my life on all levels' smarts. The sad thing is, everyone needs a money education but as you can see from recent news headlines, very few have received practical financial knowledge when they were younger. Most people today still learn about money the hard way - instead of getting the money education, they need to avoid those mistakes.

Teaching financial literacy to young adults before they leave home is an important part of preparing our children for the complex financial system that we now have. Repetition of the 'money education' lessons they pick up at home or in school will help your kids get a better grasp of youth financial education lessons that will make a true difference in their life.

Before choosing a youth financial education or a money education course for your children make sure to select the one that will provide them practical guidance.

- Meets National Financial Literacy Curriculum Standards. Although some of the standards may not be considered 'practical' it will narrow down the potential providers of a youth financial education product for your child.

When reviewing the course ask yourself 'Does this youth financial education course delivers its content in a fun, entertaining way?' If it meets most of the National Financial Literacy Curriculum standards and focuses on delivering practical information in an entertaining way - this may be the course for you.

- Matches your children's learning styles. Since extensive research shows we all have different learning styles find one that best fits your child's learning style.

If they are auditory learners you may want to give them a money education course that offers audio recordings or that takes place in a classroom setting. If they are more hands-on type learners then find a youth financial education course that has a lot of activities. Leveraging their learning style helps to lock in the know-how and provides an experience all learners can enjoy.

Greater depth, understanding, and reinforcement. By combining media, quick notes, interactive tools, videos, guides, and more - students can use whatever works best for their personal learning styles.

- Provides relevant, timely content. The financial world is changing faster than ever before. Be sure to choose a youth financial education course that stays up with today's times.

If you review a money education course that shows you how to write a check - throw it away. That is way behind the times and we need to focus our money education on topics today's youth will relate to and implement. On the other hand, if you review a financial literacy course that focuses on helping your children to leverage technology to manage their finances - that will be a course you want to look into deeper.

Bottom line - we need to provide our children a practical youth financial education course before they head out into the real world. Be sure to give your children the advantage that many of us wish we had growing up.

Credit: Vince Shorb

The Importance of Money Management For Kids

The money management for kids' agenda is raising cognizance of the dire need to provide our children with a financial literacy curriculum. Financial instruction provides children with knowledge essential to living well in our society. Teaching money management skills to children provides them with more opportunities than we can even imagine.

We are teaching our children how to take personal responsibility when we instruct them in financial management. We educate children so they understand that they have a say in their financial future and that they will have much more control when they grow up. Whether you, as a parent or educator, have a lot of money or not you can show kids the importance of budgeting and prioritize.

The practical financial literacy curriculum gives kids a life skill that many of us ended up missing out on during our own childhood. So many individuals in today's population between the ages of 20 and 45 have significant credit card debt because until now there has not been significant money management for the kids' movement. In fact, the overwhelming majority of us never learned the way credit worked or how we could hamper our lives with debt until we enrolled in the school of hard knocks.

The money management for the kid's movement helps provide today's youth the essential skills needed to make it in the global economy. Through financial literacy curriculum we can show them basic money management for kid techniques such as saving, investing, budgeting, financial goal setting, credit, debt avoidance, account structure, money flow, having a healthy relationship with money and retirement planning. Basically, if we can teach them to save money at a young age and give them investment skills they have a big advantage many adults today wish they had growing up.

It is never too soon to begin teaching children about money. Kids are very adept at understanding money skills when the proper financial literacy curriculum is provided to them. Outside of school, daily activities like chores and discussing purchases while shopping can help them pick up basic financial literacy skills. You are the first step in the money management for the kid's movement. Turn your daily activities into opportunities to teach your children money skills. This will help them learn to make good financial choices in the future.

Once a child is in high school you can involve them in the family budgeting to help them learn proper money management. Many of us were truly shocked to discover just how much money it takes for us to enjoy a comfortable retirement. We never really thought much about it as children but if we did a large majority of us would have started to save and invest at a much younger age. The money management for kids movement is about empowering them with financial literacy skills so they never have to say "I wish I knew about that when I was younger".

We all must support educators and legislators as they try to keep the money management for the kid's movement moving forward. Insist upon your school bringing in financial literacy curriculum so your children can benefit from the knowledge they pick up.

Credit: Vince Shorb

Financial Education For Children's Success - 8 Unique Ways to Introduce Children to Entrepreneurship

Does talking to children about entrepreneurship at an early age make sense? Our school system is set up to lead our children into the workplace as employees, not employers. Now don't get me wrong, we as a society definitely need employees: police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, etc., but why not shine some light on entrepreneurship too?

Incorporating the principles and philosophies of success with an emphasis on teamwork, community involvement, and entrepreneurship go well with all types of learners of varying ages. Children deserve the opportunity to at least hear about what entrepreneurship is, why they may want to be entrepreneurial when they could do this, and, of course, how to be an entrepreneur. We find that children are very responsive when talking about making money on their own. As early as six years of age, children are starting to realize the importance of making their own money vs. working for someone else. Unfortunately, not enough children in the world are being introduced to this kind of lifestyle. So below you will find some great tips, in no particular order, to help introduce your child to entrepreneurship.

1. Story Time

A great way to get your child started is by sharing with them inspiring stories of kids today, who are already entrepreneurs. The internet is a great resource, making available great stories about kid entrepreneurs from around the world, what they are doing right now and how they are doing it. When sharing inspiring kid entrepreneur stories ask your children questions like: How did they do that? Why did they do it? Do you think you can do something like that? What makes you feel that way? If you get an answer like "I can't do that," then just follow up with "Well, if you could do that, how would you do it?" This usually gets an answer. Oh, and don't forget to show your kids pictures, watch video's or check out news clips of kid entrepreneurs. It's also quite effective when kids hear the stories right from another kid's mouth.

2. Field Trip Fun

Contact local businesses, churches, or news agencies to see if you could arrange for your kids to visit with them and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the particular business operates. Approach businesses that hold a high-interest level for your kids. Let the places know that you are interested in a behind-the-scenes look at their business operations for your children and their friends who are learning about entrepreneurship. I highly recommend that you bring your children's friends too, so you all can enjoy the experience together and so that your child has like-minded individuals to discuss their findings with.

3. Raising Some Bucks

Have a fundraiser for a cause that is very important to your child or has them pick products they think they can sell either in the neighborhood or to local businesses. Let your kids bring in some of their friends that want to be a part of the action. Have them brainstorm ideas and narrow the list down to a few that they all agree on. Assist them in organizing the timing and the locations they conduct these "business meetings."

4. Make Planning Fun

Start planning with your kids. For the younger kids create a plan book from scratch, even some of the older kids can get into this too. Design it however they want. They can add stickers or make fancy title pages within their planner. The point here is for them to personalize it as much as they like. You can even pick up an inexpensive planner for their use. Talk to them about the importance of using the planner daily, and getting into the habit of planning for each day the night before. Explain to them how this will start to free up more time for them to do the things they want to be doing, instead of just doing the things they have to be doing as they become more focused. In addition to a planner/goal book, have children create a journal as well, writing down brief entries into a personal journal on a daily basis of things that interest or perplex them is a great way to get them started with being responsible, planning for their future, and allowing them time for natural, real-world problem-solving!

5. Use Your Imagination

Go online or to your library and search for wonderful places around the globe that you would love to visit sometime in your life. Have the kids look through books or at websites. Take notice as to what types of places intrigue them the most and talk about those places. Ask them what they would have to do in order to get to visit these wonderful places. Have them search how much it would cost to fly there if you were to leave today. What could they do to raise enough money for a trip like that? What other expenses may they encounter planning for a trip to that location? If it's something they really want to do have them list it in their journal as one of their goals and then start to list all the things they need to do in order to reach that goal.

6. Break Out the Seasonings

Sharpen you children's sense and general memory by playing memory games/puzzles. Play silly and fun games like "Identify that smell" or "Name that object" where children are paired off in teams and try to identify blindfolded certain odors or identify what object they are touching without being able to see it. Not only is it fun but it will also help enhance the brain performance of its participants. Thereby increasing creativity and problem-solving abilities, two key ingredients in becoming an entrepreneur!

7. Don't be shy

I know that there is a lot of old-fashioned parents out there that think that the household finances should be top secret and not discussed with children. When it comes to bill time or any time money needs to be discussed, don't be shy. Share with children the expenses and income you manage each month and each year. Show them the bills you pay, how much they are, and when they are due. Explain to them how you make your payments on these bills. If you write checks to pay them, then have them help you with that. If you pay some of your bills online, have them help with that too. Don't be shy, show them how you balance your checkbook and keep track of your finances. If you're not sure how yourself, research it online or at the library and learn it with your children. You would be surprised as to how many kids are actually interested in learning how to pay bills, balance a bank account, or even create a budget...and it increases their interest in math by giving them a purpose for learning the subject!

8. Try Something Different

Have a "what I want to be when I grow up" party with your child and their friends; where everyone comes to the party as what they want to be when they grow up. Children play the role and parents encourage by catering to the children's needs. You can give prizes to the kids for acting their parts and encourage role-playing. This will help them see themselves now as they could potentially become in the future, bringing the feelings of success of what it would feel like. By the parents catering to the "grown-ups" needs, the kids get the idea of what respectful/professional treatment would seem like when they actually reach their goals.

Conclusion

These unique tips are a great starting point to introduce entrepreneurship to children. Informing children at an early age about entrepreneurship gives them more time to really find within themselves the things that they want to do in life. The things that make them happy. Many successful people agree that part of success is doing the things you love to do. The more time children get to explore different things (with this future awareness in mind) the better chance they have of finding their true passions and going forward with them successfully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credit: Dan Rooney