Teaching Millennials Financial Know-How

Today, many teenagers and young adults are less-than-stellar at managing their finances. The ever-present use of credit cards especially has clouded many young people's understanding of the value of money--after all, with a quick swipe of plastic that brand new dress or video game is all yours. A recent competition/summit in Chicago, detailed here , challenged its teen participants to address this very issue; it yielded some very impressive results. From organizing easy-to-use online "wealth diaries" for different expenses (cell phone, etc.) to setting up computer programs that allow young people to keep track of any and all debt with the click of a button, the winners of the competition certainly created some practical solutions.

Nonetheless, while reading this article I began to wonder: shouldn't parents be teaching their kids how to balance a checkbook? Why do most Millennials have trouble understanding how student loans should be managed? Does, and if so why, does this generation of young people have less financial know-how than their predecessors? In other words, I want to explore the roots of this issue after reading its possible solutions.