Teach teens good financial skills

In the next couple of months, millions of American teens will be graduating from high school. There was a time when this meant many kids would go off to college, get a degree and start a career. But in recent years, a sluggish economy and the growing skills gap in the U.S. work force, many college graduates are heading back home to live in their parents' basement. Recent assessments of census data by Pew Research shows that more than 25 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 had moved back with their parents at one time or another during the “Great Recession.”

A survey from Junior Achievement USA and The Allstate Foundation shows that 25 percent of teens believe they will be age 25 to 27 before becoming financially independent from parents/guardians, up from 12 percent in 2011.

Teens say they are unsure about their ability to budget (23 percent), use credit cards (20 percent) or invest money (34 percent). You can teach them how to do these things, and if you're feeling nervous, lean on Junior Achievement to provide the tools. To learn more about what Junior Achievement is doing in your community, visit www.JAEasternIowa.org.

James Shell

Board President,

Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa