Good News Tucson - A Family Values Magazine

Youth Link by Bethanie, 8th Grade with Keith Powell

Most of us are at the age where we are beginning to earn money. Maybe you have a part-time job, maybe a paper route; or maybe you baby sit, maybe you get an allowance. However you earn your money, it’s very important that we learn how to spend and save our money wisely.

This month, Keith Powell, a former pastor, and CEO of The Bottom Line Group, has some great thoughts to share on how to handle money:

Show Me the Money!

I love Jerry Maquire; the movie, that is! I especially like the character Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays. He’s a professional football player who isn’t getting what he thinks he should on his paycheck. So, in an effort to motivate Jerry, his agent, he screams into the phone, “Show me the money, Jerry! Show me the money!”

Youth today don’t have to motivate others to get the money. In fact, young people are controlling more and more of the disposable income of this country. And, unless the money comes with lessons on financial management, the effects can last a long, long time. So many people are graduating high school and college in debt today, that buying a house or getting a good apartment is difficult. Some even have to declare bankruptcy after college graduation!

Here are some helpful tips on handling money while we’re young. Use these so that money doesn’t manage you!

Always work for the money. It may not be an outside, punch-the-clock, paying-taxes kinda gig, but work for it. If you get an allowance, make sure that getting it depends on you making some kind of household contribution.

Track where you spend your money. When you do that, you will start to see how many ways you are just wasting money. This will help you to be ready when you go to college and when you move out on your own.

Always put back at least 5% of what you make. Building up $2,000.00 and then investing it in a mutual fund will, over time (provided that you never touch it) make you a millionaire! That’s right! A millionaire. It’s easier than you think!

Set financial goals: save so much by Christmas; start a lawn business for the neighbors; save up to buy a special item. Goals can make money fun! There’s a lot of satisfaction in saying, “No,” to an impulsive buy when you’re saving for a big item!

Find a cause you believe in to make a donation to each year. Do it regularly (weekly, monthly). You may not give a large sum, but it builds the discipline of giving to others. All successful people acknowledge the benefit of giving.

Money is fun to have. Money is not fun when it has you because of poor management.

If we learn from these tips now, we can avoid a lot of the problems that our parents are facing. To learn more about how to handle your money, visit www.feedthepig.org for great information and resources (great for adults, too)!