Kathryn Tuggle, chief content officer for Her Money, explains the importance of summer jobs for teens to their future career prospects. 


<div class="block">Kathryn Tuggle, chief content officer for Her Money, explains the importance of summer jobs for teens to their future career prospects. </div>
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Stretching Your Dollar

The Importance of Summer Jobs for Teens 

Well, teaching your kids the importance of budgeting can be hard. But having them work a summer job can be an easier way to help them learn early on Chief Content Officer from her money. Catherine Togo joins me on set to talk about the importance of helping your team capitalize on working this summer. Catherine. Thanks for joining me. Ok, so summer jobs obviously can be an important tool for teens. Why is that? They're a hugely important tool when we think about learning how to network, learning time management, skills, learning responsibility on the job and really deciding what you want to do and who you want to be when you grow up. The summer job can really help direct your path. I like that guidance that is for teams looking for a job. What would you tell them? Well, you know, word of mouth is a great place to start where your friends and family may work where mom and dad may work. They may have a lead on something, church message boards, bulletin boards, information from your school. And if none of that is fruitful, you can always indeed linkedin and other places where people usually find jobs. Ok. So obviously likely the team, the child will earn money during this particular job. How should parents manage those earnings? Well, you know, the important thing is that you sit down for a conversation with your child and make them part of the discussion. But their first paycheck is the best opportunity to have those spending and saving and budgeting discussions. You can educate them on how you need to save a certain percentage. You need to, that a certain percentage, you need to give a certain percentage to charity and you can really help set up those good money habits for them for a lifetime. What are some good jobs for teams, especially during the summer? Right. Well, you know, all of the old trustee summer jobs are still available working at the ice cream stand, working as a lifeguard, mowing lawns, babysitting. But, you know, increasingly we see options for teams that are built around social media, you know, content creators or anything that you would like to apprentice with in the field, you think you might want to pursue in college. It's a great opportunity for students to see what they might want to do when they grow up. And when it comes to those conversations, Catherine about summer earnings and how to spend that money, what do you think should be part of the conversation to make sure that teens are spending wisely. It's a great question. It's a good time to bring up college savings. It's a great time to talk about your child's bigger goals, whether that may be an expensive extra curricular activity that they want to pursue in the fall or whether a big family vacation that you may be looking to take in August. It's a really good opportunity to sit down and get down to the nitty gritty about needs versus wants and what they have on the horizon. Ok. So summer does come to an end. Unfortunately, every year, even though I think many of us wanted to exist longer, having those conversations about what to do after that, whether a job should continue into the fall or maybe even make it a year round sort of gig. Is that something that you think is worthwhile for teens? It's a great question and I think it all depends on your financial situation. There are some families where the team has to work, but it also has to be weighed against their academic responsibilities. You know, if your team is in playing a sport or if your team is really set on getting into one of the top colleges and they need an internship and they need an extra curricular activity and they want to apply for scholarships. They may be better served, focusing solely on their academic career. But it's, it's a conversation that you and your team should sit down and have. When do you think is the right time to start those conversations about money. There's no such thing as too early. You know, even the youngest Children can learn from counting from conversations at the grocery store about how much things cost. But in terms of really talking about the budget and where to keep your money and how to invest your money and how to build wealth. The first job. And that first paycheck is the best opportunity to have those bigger picture conversations. Right? Katherine to joining me on set, helping our teens make some green out there. Katherine. Thank you. Thank you.