Make Your Teen Accountable

            Teenagers spend close to $200 billion dollars annually.  As children begin to earn and spend their own money, it is important to introduce teens to budgeting and saving responsibilities.  Opening a checking account for your teenager is an opportunity to teach valuable life skills and good financial habits.  Starting a checking account while a teen is still in high school enables parents to assist and support teens as they learn to manage the account.  And learning to successfully manage a checking account builds the foundation for developing other good financial habits like paying bills, saving money, budgeting expenses and handling credit cards.

Most financial institutions allow children as young as thirteen to open checking accounts with an adult as the joint owner.  This gives parents the opportunity to supervise and teach their kids with the account.  Even if the account is not used with checks, teens should still know how to write out checks and how to balance check and ATM/debit card transactions.  They should understand how to keep a running balance and reconcile their checkbooks.  Show children the importance of keeping their own ledger and saving carbon copies and check stubs.  Reinforce the rules of a checking account•that you cannot spend more than is available in the account and that there are consequences to bouncing a check or overdrawing the account.  Be sure that teenagers understand that checks and ATM/debit cards need to be kept secure. 

When considering opening an account for a teenager, there are many different options for parents and teens to think about.  For instance, consider which institution you would like to join, what features and benefits come with that location, what fees are associated with that institution and type of account, whether you want to have checks, a debit card or both for the account, and whether or not to set up overdraft protection. Still, probably the most important thing for parents to do is to set a good example for teens with finances and be a role model for them to follow as they begin their lives independently.

HCCU can help develop your teen’s good banking habits.  We offer teen checking accounts completely FEE FREE!  Teens can get a fee free checking account that comes with a free debit card, free basic checks, and access to all our online services.  For no monthly fee, you can get your teen started with a checking account today!  Contact us or apply for membership online.