CPA Mom Shares How She Taught Her Teens Early Money Management

In a personal column, a certified public accountant details the financial education she gave her teenage children to prevent the later-life money struggles she observes in clients. She began investing her daughter’s savings at age 14, using simple compounding illustrations and semi-annual reviews to show growth. The same approach was applied to her son, highlighting the need to separate everyday cash from assets that should work for the owner.

The CPA stresses that discussing retirement at 17 or 18 is worthwhile, because early contributions benefit from a ten-year head start and compound returns. She also uses the first paycheck experience to teach about tax withholdings and the gap between gross and net earnings. Budgeting, she notes, is a constant reality that supports long-term financial security, and open money talks at home aim to make these concepts normal for the next generation.