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Help kids get smart with money
TopLine offers to aid youth financing
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. -- In 2006, according to the Commerce Department, Americans spent everything they made, and then borrowed more, pushing the savings rate to a negative one percent, the lowest level since the Great Depression. Many parents hope for better for their children, which is why it's never too early to talk with them about money matters.
But in a nationwide survey released by the Federal Reserve as part of National Financial Literacy Month, high school seniors had the worst scores so far in the six years the survey has been conducted. American teenagers answered only 48.3 percent of questions correctly about personal finance and economics.
To spotlight youth financial literacy, Twin Cities-based TopLine Federal Credit Union has created Get Smart With Your Money, an initiative to encourage kids and their parents to talk about spending, saving, and sharing their money wisely. It's a great way for the whole family to improve financial habits.
As part of the program, TopLine is offering seminars, as well as special youth savings challenges and giveaways at each of TopLine Federal Credit Union's seven metro-area branches. As an extra savings incentive, TopLine will match dollar-for-dollar deposits into youth savings accounts, up to $25, for anyone opening a youth account or depositing into an existing account.
"It's important for kids of all ages to understand how money works and be able to make informed financial decisions at some level," says Mark Hodowanic, market manager, TopLine Federal Credit Union, Brooklyn Park branch. "Our seminars will cover spending and saving money, balancing needs and wants, using and managing credit effectively, budgeting, and paying yourself first. We'll help kids learn how to develop their own personal spending and savings plans by encouraging them to open a share savings account. And if they do it here, we'll even match their first $25 in savings."
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