Accountant Teaches 17- and 18-Year-Olds Investing, Taxes and Budgeting

3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Aug 15

A CPA says she began teaching her now-17- and 18-year-old children money skills early so they would not reach middle age still learning debt, investing, wage negotiation and taxes.
At 14, her oldest child started working, prompting lessons on moving idle cash into high-yield savings and using semiannual check-ins to show how compounding grows savings.
At 17 and 18, the talks expanded to retirement accounts, with the accountant arguing that starting contributions at 18 instead of the mid-20s gives a 10-year compounding head start.
First paychecks also became tax lessons, as withholding and deductions showed her children that gross pay and take-home pay differ and must be planned for.
Budgeting rounds out the approach: she tells her children that household stability came from years of planning, not luck, and says open money talk is the main lesson they will carry into adulthood.