Chattanooga: Parents teach financial responsibility to youth

When 17-year-old Jake Fien wanted a truck, he saved $2,500 and bought a1988 Toyota 4Runner.

To keep the 20-year-old sport utility vehicle running, the Soddy-Daisy High School senior has spent about $1,500 more over the past year.

To fund all of this, Mr. Fien works not one, but two jobs — one in the summers at a lawn and landscaping service, the other at a golf course in Hixson. His parents, Jenny and Tony Fien, have involved Jake and their 15-year-old daughter Ally in the family finances by showing them what bills are for certain items.

“We really try to stress, you’ve got to have an education, because obviously, everybody wants their kids to be better off than they are,” she said. “Everybody that I know is just trying to drill that into their kids’ heads, and you hope that you are getting through, but I guess time will tell.”

Like the Fiens, who are in the early 40s, many parents their age and older are trying to ensure their children have opportunities they did not, and one way they are doing that is by teaching them financial responsibility.

Janice Lanier, vice president of lending at Cornerstone Bank, volunteers with Junior Achievement, a nonprofit group with the goal of preparing children for their economic futures.

Mrs. Lanier, 55, volunteers several times a year teaching second graders the value of money by letting them pretend to have a job and make their own money. The class teaches them about paying taxes, she said.

“It’s never to soon to teach children the reason to save and the values, principles and responsibilities that come with the financial aspect of it,” she said.

With her own son, now 30, Mrs. Lanier and her husband made lessons out of everyday wants. When their son Matthew wanted a bicycle as a teenager, they made a deal to pay for half of it if he earned the other half. The lesson worked, she said.

“He worked himself like a little Trojan, and he raked leaves and did whatever it took until he made enough money to buy the rest of the bike,” she said.

Mrs. Lanier said her son learned something else that year as well — pride of ownership. He took care of the bike, always keeping it in its stand, she said.

“The reason is, he understood why when something costs that much, you want to take care of it,” she said. “He had the responsibility of earning that money to pay for that bike and then he took pride of ownership in it.”

There are endless resources available for parents to teach their children about money, ranging from online exercises to a board game called Cashflow for Kids. The game is produced by the organization behind the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series of financial advice books. It teaches children age 6 and above how to manage their money throughout the course of the game.

For Mrs. Fien, her 17-year-old son learned to save first-hand to get what he wanted. These days Jake, along with his sister, both have savings accounts. Jake also has a checking account, but after over spending with his debit card, he decided to just use cash for purchase instead.

“That was a good little lesson,” he said.