As your kids get older and become young adults, everything they want and need seems to get more expensive. You think about money a lot, and you’ll notice money is on your teen's mind more often too.
Whether it’s spending money to go out with friends, earning money from their first job, saving money for college, or investing money they make from starting a small business – learning about money as a teen is important!
There are plenty of resources available to help young adults learn about money. This is important since many teens won’t listen to their parents’ advice and some parents struggle themselves with finances.
Grab our free eBook – What Your Kids Need To Know About Money For Future Financial Independence [Free eBook]
There are games and apps to help teens focus on taking on more financial responsibility. While some teens prefer games, others would rather read about ways to have a brighter financial future.
Related: What Money Games And Activities Are Best For Young Children?
Here are some great books to help teens (and adults) learn more about money.
Money Books for Teens (and some for Adults too!)
If your older children and teens like to read, these terrific books can help them as they take on more financial responsibilities. And begin to think about their financial futures.
What All Kids (and adults too) Should Know About Savings and Investing is a favorite book by Rob Pivnick. It’s a book for teenagers and adults who are just starting to learn about their finances and where to save and invest money. Teens can make sense of the concepts presented and connect them to what they are learning from their parents or in personal finances lessons in school.
Maybe your kids aren’t getting lessons on personal finance in school, and you aren’t sure how to start those conversations. You might give your high school student, Why Didn't They Teach Me This in School?: 99 Personal Money Management Principles to Live By. Cary Siegel’s popular money book helps teens take action and improve their financial future.
Recommended by a reader for its great visuals is, How Money Works: The Facts Visually Explained (How Things Work), by DK Publishing. We were told it “lets you see how different choices turn out in a fun way.” Some of the sections include Characteristics of Money, Income and Wealth, Earning Passive Income, Earning Income from Savings, Investor Types, and Credit Cards. With an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon, it looks to be a very popular book.
Beth Kobliner’s, Make Your Kid A Money Genius (Even If You're Not): A Parents' Guide for Kids 3 to 23 is a step-by-step look at developing financial literacy skills throughout childhood. Beth wants parents to stop avoiding the economic “facts of life” talks. And she gives you the tools to guide the conversation as your child ages.
Another book to check out is Kara McGuire’s, The Teen Money Manual. Reviewers describe it as very “approachable” and “accessible” with lots of charts, graphs, and checklists. Kara’s written personal finance columns in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and for Marketplace Money on public radio.
For teens who talk about business ideas, a great gift is Steve Mariotti’s book, The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business: Turn Your Ideas into Money! Steve explains how to turn an idea into a money-making venture. He also advises how to get a successful small business up and running. There are a number of stories for teens to learn from throughout the book.
In 2016, Sarah Newcomb released the book, Loaded: Money, Psychology, and How to Get Ahead without Leaving Your Values Behind. If you are interested in learning more about the psychology of money and how it ties into a person’s behavior, check out this highly-rated read.
Books for Young Adults and Their Parents
In addition to the 7 books listed above, these three personal finance books we've reviewed here at Women Who Money, and think young adults may find them beneficial in improving their financial literacy:
- Napkin Finance: Build Your Wealth in 30 Seconds or Less by Tina Hay
- Get Money by Kristin Wong
- The Feminist Financial Handbook: A Modern Woman's Guide to a Wealthy Life by Brynne Conroy
And these next four books are considered classic financial literacy books. Some people may prefer one over the others, but they all have important information shared in different ways.
Your older teens and adult children (even you!) may connect instantly with messages shared in these books. Their attitudes toward debt, saving, investing, and building wealth could be transformed. A new relationship with money may change their futures!
By Women Who Money Co-Founders, Vicki Cook and Amy Blacklock
