Getting Financially Savvy Before Hitting the Job Market

"My daughter needs to learn personal finance," Laurel, a mom of a teenage daughter, told me this morning. "Where can she go?" I sure didn't expect that I would be talking money at 7am, just as I was about to start the pilates class Laurel teaches. Laurel had seen the latest article on SuperFutures and it hit her: "The best thing I can teach my daughter is how a mortgage works, how to invest, how to make her money go further." Boy, is Laurel ever right. One of the greatest gifts parents can give their teens is the gift of financial smarts. It's always struck me how we teach our kids just about everything -- including sex education -- but we don't teach them how to manage the money they earn. We don't teach them how to operate in the real-world after spending some 15 years in school, apparently to prepare our kids for their careers. Career planning really should include personal financial education. We at SuperFutures.org would love to hear from you -- parents and teens -- about your interests in classes or retreats on: * Starting a business * Planning for your career today * Money savvy skills for teens - from saving and investing to buying a home and understanding the stock market To you teens planning for college, just think how much better you'll feel stepping out of college and into that giant world with some money smart skills? Think how much better off you'll be if you can make that hard-earned paycheck go further. Remember, the more you make your paycheck earn, the more you can do with it... not just for yourself but for other. Perhaps you want to start a business, create your own charity or good works project or just be able to lend a financial helping hand. Learn a little about investing and savingg can take you a long way to living the SuperFuture you want.