Should Teenagers Attain Financial Independence Early?

In a world constantly changing with the second’s needle of the clock, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to keep up with these new alterations in their way of living. Any unpredicted situation can knock down an economy, and its effects can radiate to the entire world. More often than not, young adults struggle to make their way through such financially critical times. On the other hand, older adults with more experience and savings in their bank accounts would be much more relaxed during a crisis.

Young adults often feel daunted by the enormous financial responsibility passed on to their shoulders as soon as they step out of their houses and move between cities for education or work. While living by yourself is undoubtedly a great way to become a more responsible person, you’re destined to take a hit if you go in without any clue about how the world works. Therefore, exploring when you have the safety and the time is essential. In other words, you should explore managing finances when you’re a teenager.

‘Managing finances is no child’s play.’ – that’s often the excuse adults give to keep children away from financial discussions. However, nobody can deny that the majority of young adults aren’t good at budgeting either. They could’ve been if they took the authority over their finances when they were teenagers. Therefore, supervised guidance to teens regarding their financial whereabouts is essential to teach them about money beyond the piggy bank. It’s time that parents now upgrade to a child’s pocket money card.

Nowadays, owing to the connection that technology has built with the entire world, there are many options that teenagers and parents can choose to encourage teenagers to become financially independent. For instance, some companies issue debit card for teens. The benefit of these electronic cards is the ease of online payments.

Usually, the minimum age requirement to open an independent bank account is 18 years which makes it nearly impossible for teenagers to get a personal prepaid card for themselves. That’s when these products come into play.

Online teen debit cards usually don’t require a person to open a bank account to use their service. For a teenager, it’ll work as a wallet funded by their parents. It allows parents to keep an eye on the expenses that their teenager is carrying out. It enables teenagers to get a sense of authority over their money while letting the parent check the live status and transactions of the teen’s wallet, which provides transparency. While teens may have seen their parents using services like UPI, such payment cards mimic that and make it similar to UPI for teens.

Parents have the creative freedom to devise different techniques to encourage their teens about healthy financial practices. Parents can introduce tools like ypay and brainstorm tasks for their teenagers that they must complete to get the reward in their wallets. Additionally, if a parent wishes, they can start a conversation about investments. It could be a great way to educate the teen on investments, investment portfolios, asset classes, and securities. Furthermore, you could also teach your teenagers about insurance and every other financial concept that schools swiftly neglect.

While it’s clear that teenagers should transition from piggy banks to digital wallets and cards to use their savings like adults, parental supervision and education must be ensured before issuing any financial authority to teenagers. The sooner a teenager will understand how to manage their finances, the quicker they’ll be able to carry out transactions independently as an adult.