As the winter break ends and students flood back into classrooms, there’s renewed attention on getting kids financially fit.
“Kids are never too young to start learning the value of a dollar,” said Jeanette Pavini, a parent and a consumer writer with Coupons.com. “Schools aren’t really teaching (financial subjects), so parents need to take it upon themselves.”
In fact, many parents wish their kids were better schooled in money management. Some say it should be mandatory.
In a recent survey, about 66 percent of parents who held at least $ 1,000 in credit card debt said kids should be required to take a class on how to use credit cards. The survey, by Consumer Education Services Inc., a Raleigh, N.C.,-based debt counseling agency, found that only 5 percent of those parents had ever had such a class themselves.
Starting this year, several initiatives are under way to promote financial literacy among students and families. Here’s a look:
– Cash for counseling
One nonprofit credit counseling agency is dangling a financial incentive to families: an average $ 275 in cash. That’s the amount a family of four can earn if it sticks to a three-year program of financial counseling.
ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions, a nonprofit counseling agency, quietly launched its program two months ago. So far, it has signed up a handful of families and is seeking more.
Its “Family Financial Fitness” program is open to families with kids in grades K-8.
To qualify, a family must include at least one child and one parent (or legal guardian). It could be a single mom with one child or a two-parent home where at least one parent participates. There’s no limit on the number of kids in the family.
The program is aimed at helping parents reach their financial goals, as well as helping them teach their kids lifelong money management skills.
Managing money “is a life skill that’ll be used throughout a person’s life,” said Keith Combs, ClearPoint’s Pacific regional director in Sacramento. The program is funded through a financial literacy grant from Chase Card Services.
The family counseling can be done in person or by phone, as long as every child in the family participates in the conversations.
In the first session, Combs said, family members work with a ClearPoint counselor to establish their financial goal: sticking to a budget, eliminating credit card debt, getting on top of mortgage payments, starting college savings, etc.
Families earn $ 25 for enrolling, plus another $ 25 for each one-hour session they attend, typically once every six months for three years.
Each parent receives an additional $ 25 for completing “Credit Where Credit Is Due,” an at-home workbook on the basics of what affects our credit scores.
In addition, each child receives a $ 25 incentive for enrolling in “The Centsables” program, which features six superheroes who tout good money habits. Every child receives a packet of money-themed activity books. (For more details, go to www.centsables.com.)
The cash incentives are paid by check, and Combs said there are no strings attached. “We hope they’d spend it wisely or put it away for their children so they can learn the importance of saving,” he said.
Every six months, the family gets a free financial checkup, using their household bills, bank statements and income to chart their progress.
“The idea is to see where they are with the goals they’ve set for themselves,” said Combs.
–Testing their smarts
In March, federal officials will launch their annual “Financial Capability Challenge,” a contest sponsored by the U.S. Treasury and the Department of Education to test the financial know-how of the nation’s high school students.
The online exam, which runs from March 12 to April 13, is open to any public, parochial or home-schooled classroom. Last year, 84,300 students nationwide took the test, scoring an average 69 percent.
For details on the test, which is administered by teachers, go to www.challenge.treas.gov.
Ultimately, it’s about getting kids on track before they get out into the financially troubled real world.
(Contact Claudia Buck at cbuck(at)sacbee.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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