James H. Willis, III
Founder and President
The Willis Agency, Inc
813-948-9109
Jim@TheWillisAgency.com
www.TheWillisAgency.com
1 Peter 5:7
Okay, Okay, so most of your kids are grown, I got that! And so are mine. FYI, 28% of seniors are still subsidizing and supporting their grown children. WOWZERS!!!! This is great information to send your family to learn and share with the grandkids. Ha, they are our favorite anyways, right?
Look, somebody must teach our children the responsibility of money. It’s powerful and dangerous as the same time. The schools don’t teach this, the colleges don’t teach this, neither do businesses or churches. Sadly, most families do not prepare their children for the “Huge Financial World” that impacts our daily lives, and I don’t understand why. Personally, I was completely unprepared, and it was not until much later in life that I understood the concept of money and sound financial planning. Today, I would like to share with you four very important Financial Trends effecting our youth.
Trend #1: Financial Illiteracy. This is the norm among young Americans. A survey conducted by VISA found that 49% of the youth think it is more likely they will become a millionaire by staring on a reality TV show than learning how to save and budget wisely. Also, a consumer report survey found that 28% of students didn’t know that credit cards are a form of borrowing and 40% didn’t know the bank charges a percentage rate.
Trend #2: Kids and teens have money and spending influence, and the advertisers and credit card companies come after them. A market research report found that in 2013, teens spent $250 billion, an average of $153 weekly. And younger kids directly influenced spending on their behalf to a tune of $174 billion.
Trend #3: Each group apparently presumes someone else is teaching their kids about money and finances. 80% of parents believe that schools provide classes on money management and budgeting. NOPE!!!!! Look, once again, it is up to us, the PARENTS!!!
Trend #4: Whether parents like it or not or realize it or not, kids look to them for financial guidance. Listen to this Capital One survey, more than 70% of parents say they have “spoken” with their teen about credit and using a credit card wisely, while less than 44% of the teenagers of those parents say that their parent has talked to them about money or credit cards.
Look, it is obvious we are not doing a good job at this because most parents are not doing a good job of this themselves. Proverbs 22:6: “Train your child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart.” Or not.
