What are the basic financial skills you use everyday in life to survive as an adult? I bet they are so ingrained that you take them for granted. Financial expert Gregg Murset shares these stats:

October is National Financial Planning Month, but 68 percent of Americans probably won¹t take notice because they don’t put together a monthly budget to track income and expenditures. Which might explain why over 46 percent of households have credit card debt averaging $15,257 per household. Personal money management is not likely to improve in the next generation either.

There is no requirement in 66% of states for students to take personal finance courses in high school, and since most parents are not budgeting, most kids aren¹t going to learn these valuable life skills at home either. Additionally, a study by the National Endowment for Financial Education found that 89% of teachers believe that personal finance should be a mandatory class, but only 20% believe that they could competently teach that class.

Here are 15 essential financial skills teens need to survive

Does your teen know how to do these things?

1. How to write a check
2. How to set up a bank account
3. How to set up an IRA
4. How to file taxes, even if it’s just the 1040-EZ (when things get complicated, like multi-state income, rental property, or other factors, hire an accountant)
5. How to pay a credit card bill on time
6. How to add up your income, subtract your regular expenses, and figure out what’s left to spend each month. Quick start here.
7. How to pay yourself first…in other words…how to save money
8. How to say no when people ask you to borrow money (for the most part, it’s not a good idea to lend money to friends and family)
9. How to say no to upsells
10. How to give presents of time and effort and thought, not just money
11. How to talk about money
12. How to save money and then spend it on something that is meaningful to them
13. How to get a job
14. How to set up direct deposit (your employer should be able to provide the necessary paperwork)
15. What would you add to this list???

Is your child’s school going to teach her these skills? Or will you have to do it?

What you can do: Speak to your school. If personal finance or economics isn’t being taught at your local school and you believe it should, talk to the principle about how you can help get the courses implemented.

What would you add to this list? Leave a comment and I’ll update the post.