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Schwab Survey Reveals New Insights Into Money Behavior and Concerns of Teens.

Article Excerpt
Financially Active Teens Unaware of the Implications of Their Adult Spending Habits

SAN FRANCISCO, April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Teens are growing increasingly more active as financial consumers and have strong fundamental values about money, but are in urgent need of learning more of the ABCs of money management to temper their new forays into the world of credit and debt. That's one of the key findings of Teens & Money, an annual survey released today by the Charles Schwab Foundation.

While teens ages 13-18 clearly know how to spend money, they seem to be far less aware of the consequences of their actions. For example, the majority of teens say they are knowledgeable about how to write a check (61 percent) and use a debit card (54 percent), yet fewer than half (41 percent) know how to balance a checkbook. Further, while the majority of teens say they know how to shop for the best deal when making a purchase (66 percent), fewer than half understand how to budget their money (48 percent).

One startling finding is that teens are already starting to accumulate debt, with nearly a third of those surveyed (31 percent) owing money to either a person or a company. On average, teens owe $230, with older teens 16-18 owing significantly more than younger teens 13-15 ($351 vs. $84). Fourteen percent of teens 13-18 say they already are more than $1,000 in the red, and this percentage rises significantly for teens 16-18 (22 percent)....