by Carol H Cox
No, it’s not too late to talk to your soon-to-be-graduating high school senior about personal finance! In fact, now is a great time to begin the conversation. My parents never had these talks with me when I was graduating from high school, but I also wasn’t facing tens of thousands of dollars of student loans in my future either, and credit card debt wasn’t the huge problem it is today.
Managing money well is now more important than ever. The average college grad leaves school with about $28,500 in student loan debt, and the average American struggles with over $6,900 of credit card debt carried from month to month.
You don’t need to be an expert to give good advice to your child, and you don’t have to have your finances in perfect working order either. We’ve all screwed up our finances on more than one occasion. It’s tough for us parents to admit that we’ve made money mistakes, but these may be some of the best teaching lessons. They’re real. They’re memorable.
Life is messy. It doesn’t follow neat little rules—although financial experts sure like to draw them up. So take comfort in knowing you’re not alone. Many Americans are in difficult financial situations, like too much debt, flabby credit scores, savings deficits, and the like.
Now, where to begin?
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