Need advice on how to save for college, divvy up your investments or live within your means? Lucky for you, there is no shortage of magazines, radio shows, and web sites dedicated to the topic of personal finance, which came into its own in the 1990s. Even Oprah has joined in, assembling a panel of go-to money pros to help America tackle overspending and credit card debt.
I wanted to highlight a few of the best money resources out there both for your children and for you.
I appreciate the insights of Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and author of the magazine’s “Money Smart Kids” column. Father and Minnesota Public Radio resident economics expert Chris Farrell is also a trusted source for personal finance basics. And his latest book The New Frugality addresses how we can align our family values with our financial values.
Our collective tendency to be less-than-perfect money managers has led to an abundance of financial literacy tools for children. I think the hope is that by starting early with our progeny, they can avoid some of the money mishaps we learned about the hard way.
Money resources for kids are mostly focused online. But there are a couple of “old media” resources out there.
Student journalists write most of the content for Young Money magazine, which was launched a decade ago. The articles are geared toward young people in their late teens and twenties and address issues relating to careers, investing, and education.
Last September, teens got their own TV special hosted by Donald Faison — aka Dr. Turk on Scrubs: Learn from the mistakes of others and find learning guides to use with your kids at PBS.org/your-life-your-money.
Around the same time, a special for parents and their young children aired on public television, featuring a story where Elmo’s mommy loses her job. Learn more at SesameWorkshop.org/toughtimes/project.
Perhaps the wired generation can be best reached through online games. At least that’s the theory that T. Rowe Price and Disney are operating on with the launch of The Great Piggy Bank Adventure (PiggyBank.disney.go.com), a game for 8 to 14 year olds designed to teach kids about setting goals and making choices. It enters a field crowded with online money games such as ING Direct’s Planet Orange (OrangeKids.com), Visa’s Financial Football (PracticalMoneySkills.com/games/trainingcamp) and Wells Fargo’s Hands on Banking (WellsFargo.com/handsonbanking). Even the U.S. Mint has a page filled with online games (USMint.gov/kids/games). Most have lesson guides designed for parents and teachers that will help you make your child’s time online more worthwhile.
Better yet, there’s no rule that says you can’t play too! So dig in. Have fun. And up the screen time just for today.
Kara McGuire is the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s personal finance columnist and St. Paul mother of three. Follow her on Twitter: Twitter.com/kablog.
