i^_cc[ho - Teens in Print

Photo by: Artists for HumanityMoney. Everyone wants it and everyone needs it, especially teens.How else are we going to get those brand new sneakers, computers,jeans, and iPods? Option A is to ask your parents. Option Bis to get a job. By getting a job you have a chance to prove yourindependence and score points on your school transcript at thesame time. Nice, right?OK, so you’ve been looking around and the “help wanted” signs are promising.Breezing through the interview, you get your classic dream job at McDonald’s orStarbucks. Now what will you do with the money? You feel tempted to spend,but you know in your gut that you need to and should save the money you earn.From an expert’s point of view, Dara Duguay, director of Citi’s Office ofFinancial Education, says everyone, teens included, “should start saving as soonas possible, the younger, the better!” Duguay says parents should start teachingkids about money, “as soon as they start asking for money.”Everyone, young and old, has different views on how much money they wantto save, what to save for, or whether they’ll save at all. Some teens want to waitand buy something expensive later on, such as those limited $200 Air Forcesor the latest Sidekick cellphone. Others want to have some spending money onhand, so when they’re reaching into their pockets, they won’t be pulling out lintand paper clips.Going out and getting the latest gadget or outfit is nice, but remember tobe on the lookout for the rising cost for college. “I just don’t see the collegetuition decreasing,” says Duguay. “Students are getting bigger and bigger loans”to stay in school. According to Duguay, it can take 10 years or more to pay offa student loan.T.i.P. interviewed 10 teens about jobs, money, and their saving habits. Half ofthose interviewed wanted to gain work experience, while half wanted the extramoney. Of these, nine set aside some money in consideration of college, whiletwo of the nine set aside all of their money for education. Others save money topay off phone and credit cards bills, or to pay for their driver’s license and therising price of gas.According to their needs, every person T.i.P. spoke with splits their paycheckdifferently. Duguay suggests saving at least 10 percent of your money. Teensbelieve the much-loved 50/50 split always works. The most important thing tokeep in mind is what Duguay calls the “magic of compounded interest.” Thismeans that your money will multiply and grow if placed in a bank account earninginterest.Saving doesn’t mean you have to give up all your money and not have any tospend; it means to put a little money aside, even if it is only a few dollars nowand then. A few dollars saved every few days or each week will accumulatebefore you know it, and you’ll never know when it might come in handy.According to Fox News, Paul Brant, 70, of Frankfort, Indiana, recently boughta new Dodge Ram pickup truck with more than $25,000 of change he gatheredover the years. Now just imagine what you could do if you started saving.You see that moneySometimes it can be as sweet as candyBut I mean what’s the point anywayIt just runs through my fingers when I get paidIsn’t money supposed to ease your problems?But now-a-days if someone gives a few dollars you don’teven want ’emWhy life gotta be so hard, come on I’m beggin’ lordI thought money was supposed to help my dreamsBut what it did was ruin it with its all-star teamYou know the healthcare, the education, the billsall aroundIt’s what’s got my feet planted to this groundIt’s not fair that I have to live his wayI want to scream so you can hear what I sayAll this for the love of moneySometimes it’s so close to you, you can call it buddyWhy does money always got to be on my mindIt’s like we have a life term bindMoney shouldn’t have to be my focusBut when I look at it it’s all bogusMONEY!MONEY!MONEY!Can it all just go away?But really it can’t ’cause it helps me payFor the house that I have to live in and layMoney is what we see in the young folks eyesCausing friendships to based on flat out liesImagine a world where there was no moneyA place where everything is just as smooth as honeyBut reality is realityNo matter how much you think it’s phonyMoney will always be Money.i.