Smart ways for teens to boost their own finances
INSTEAD OF RELYING ON POCKET MONEY KIDS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO EARN THEIR OWN CASH, SAY THE AUTHORS OF A NEW BOOK. LISA SALMON FINDS OUT HOW
LEARNING early how to make and use money is a vital practical skill that will be useful for a young person throughout their life.
Yet data from Santander UK has found only four in 10 children and young people in the UK have some form of financial education in school. And with about nine million adults across the UK and Ireland already struggling with problem debt, according to The Centre for Social Justice, it’s time for kids to become more financially literate.
Although research has shown children start picking up vital money habits and skills between the ages of three and seven, it seems some are naturally financially savvy and others aren’t, observes private equity director Rachel Provest.
“Some people seem to have the magic touch when it comes to money, others just can’t seem to keep hold of it – it runs through their fingers like water and they can never seem to earn enough,” says Rachel, who’s just written the practical financial guide for tweens and teens, Max Your Money (Welbeck Children’s Books, £14.99), with investment fund manager Larry Hayes.
But every youngster can learn. “It’s about making you the boss of money and not the other way round”, Rachel stresses.
“If they have access to the internet, every child can build some wealth before they leave school – we want every child to discover how they can earn more than the living wage, and often substantially more.”
And her co-author Larry adds: “The opportunities to make money are extraordinary. With eight-yearolds earning more than their parents just by un-boxing toys, and kid entrepreneurs selling their business for millions before they’ve even left school, in the digital age there are more temptations, pitfalls and opportunities to make money than any time in history.”
Rachel and Larry suggest tweens and teens try some – or all – of these suggestions to earn and make the most of their money.
Look for horrible (but well-paid) jobs
Take a tip from the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who the authors say researched the most horrible jobs in his area suspecting they would pay the most. He ended up cleaning out a boiler room – not fun but he earned double the hourly rate of the other job options open to him at the time.
Use your superpowers
Discover what high-earning work suits your personality and skills, which can also be described as your ‘superpowers’. “Everyone has a superpower that can be used to max their earnings,” Rachel points out.
“Even a 13-year-old gamer can earn more than the living wage as a gaming coach.”
Look for online earning opportunities
The list of online earning opportunities for children is huge, Rachel and Larry stress, citing examples such as translation work if you have a second language, video editing, social media management, music production, video production, singing, coding and online marketing.
Larry says: “The list is seemingly endless – one kid has made over a million dollars by becoming a hacker bounty hunter, hacking into company websites to help improve their security, and one of our children tested out the book and now earns £50 an hour making corporate TikTok videos. She’s only 11.”
Get hard skills to supercharge your earning power
To earn the maximum amount from a job, young people should aim to gain skills efficiently and cost-effectively.
“The number one secret to max your earnings is to get hard skills – qualifications that prove you have a particular valuable skill,” explains Rachel.
“The internet makes that easy – with cheap and often free online courses where you can learn the hard skills that will be supercharging your earning power.”
She explains, for example, that a dedicated coder can access a free online Blockchain Developer course and qualify after a few months with the ability to earn £700 an hour, or even create their own cryptocurrency.
Be entrepreneurial
Being an entrepreneur is lot like playing – you need ideas, a desire to try things out and the nerve to take risks, say Rachel and Larry, who stress that’s the description of most tweens and teens on the planet.
“Being a kid is the perfect time to do it,” says Larry, “because you don’t have to earn to survive, you have a flexible brain that’s quick to learn, and you know exactly how the next generation thinks.”
Don’t just rely on pocket money
The authors say the costof-living crisis is the perfect time to turn children from spenders into earners – so instead of relying on pocket money handouts, they should be encouraged to go
out and earn their own money.
“The lessons we teach kids with pocket money are pretty awful,” says Rachel. “Pocket money is either a gift from the money fairy – your parents or carers just hand it down for nothing – or it’s done for chores around the house. But there’s no pay negotiation, no minimum wage.
“The bosses – your parents – are usually horrible bosses who are really slack one day and then superangry the next because you haven’t unloaded the dishwasher.”
If parents encourage kids to start earning and the cash flows – or trickles – in, reliance on pocket money handouts will soon be a thing of the past.
“Your kids will go from being one-track-mind spenders – always asking for more pocket money and more stuff – to earners who realise how they can start making money for themselves,” promises Larry.
Earn on eBay and sale sites
Even younger kids can earn money, stress the authors, who cite the example of a nine-year-old girl who negotiated access to her parents’ eBay account instead of pocket money. “The deal is simple – if she finds anything unwanted around the home, she can sell it and keep half the money,” explains Larry, who says eBay estimates the average home contains £4,000 worth of unwanted ‘stuff’.
Don’t ask ‘Can I afford it?’
Rachel and Larry stress one of the big financial rules is you should never ask ‘Can I afford it?’, but should instead ask ‘How can I afford it?’ Rachel says: “That way, when you realise what you’ll need to do to pay for it, you can make a rational decision about whether you really want it.
“It’s all about teaching kids how to be the boss of money.”