Released: October 23, 2003

Talking to Teens About Money

Survey shows teenagers want financial advice from parents

Oct. 23, 2003 – A new financial education survey by Consumer Action and Capital One, a leading credit card provider, reveals that money is a subject that teens are interested in and that teens want more advice from their parents about money management. According to the survey of parents and their teenaged children, more than half of the parents said they think their teens’ knowledge of money management is good to excellent, but only 20 percent of the teens in question agree.

"The survey indicates that casual conversation may not register with teenagers when it comes to money management—the discussion needs to comprehensive," said Linda Sherry of Consumer Action. "We partnered with Capital One to develop a free, multilingual workbook called "Talking to Teens About Money" which includes activities, worksheets and samples designed to guide teens and parents through a discussion of money management basics."

The survey findings include:

• While nearly 73 percent of the parents surveyed said that they have talked to their teenagers about money management, 53 percent of the teens said that they want to learn more.
• More than 70 percent of parents say they have spoken with their teens about credit and using credit cards wisely, while less than 44 percent of the teenaged children of those respondents say their parents have talked to them about credit cards.
• 54 percent of parents rate their teenager's knowledge about managing money as "good" or "excellent", while an overwhelming 78 percent of the teenaged children of those respondents rated their knowledge as merely average or even poor.

"Good money management is not something that is routinely taught in schools so it is important for teenagers to learn these skills at home," said Diana Don, director of financial education at Capital One. "'Talking to Teens About Money' can help parents by leading their teens through very specific exercises that show how credit ratings are built and how they can be damaged, how checking accounts work and how developing a budget can help keep teens from overspending."

"Talking to Teens About Money" is a part of the Money Wi$e series, a national financial literacy partnership between Capital One and Consumer Action. It is the first program of its kind to combine free, multilingual financial education materials with community training and seminars to give consumers at all income levels both the information and the practical assistance they need to make smart financial choices.

Headquartered in Virginia, Capital One is one of the largest providers of MasterCard and Visa credit cards in the world. Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 500 index.