Teaching Teens: 4 Tips to Help Money Lessons Stick

"Did you know you can invest in the Super Bowl?"

Omar Aguilar, president, CEO, and chief investment officer of Schwab Asset Management^®, was (mostly) amused when his teenage daughter posed this question. He knew it was a teachable moment—about why sports betting is not the same as investing and how to responsibly vet financial information, since the "hot tip" had come from TikTok.

Welcome to the world of precocious teen investors, where financial information and guidance are ubiquitous, but credibility is scarce. "Teenagers know what's going on in the world. They even know what's going on in the markets," Omar says. "But in many cases, they have only the information and not the context in which to judge it."

According to Schwab's 2026 Teen Investing Survey,¹ 59% of teenagers say they were made aware of investing before they turned 13, and 1 in 4 says they're investing at least some of the money they receive as gifts or earn from afterschool jobs. "The fact that today's teens are so engaged is a golden opportunity for parents," Omar says. "There's no better time to teach them about money, because time is their biggest asset."

There are ways to make these critical conversations easier—and to leave a lasting impression when it comes to your child's financial future. Here are four tips to get you started.

"When talking about investments, focus on their existing areas of interest," urges Patrick Means, a vice president and branch manager at Schwab who frequently volunteers for the company's teen financial education initiatives. According to the Schwab survey, those interests are primarily beauty, social media, and video games.

Of course, passions alone don't make for an adequately diversified portfolio—an abstract concept even to many adults. For his part, Patrick likes to use his prized collection of Air Jordan sneakers as an analogy.

"When I'm getting dressed for my life outside the office, it's important that my Jordans match the rest of my outfit," he tells the teens he encounters. However, if he had only one pair, not only would his sartorial choices be limited, but he'd also be taking an unnecessary chance every time he wore them. Should they get damaged, dirty, or just lose their appeal, he'd have no other options.

"Teaching flexibility and risk management through footwear may seem like a bit of a stretch," Patrick says, "but when I think back to the financial lessons I learned from my parents and teachers, the ones that stuck were the ones that were most relatable."

Medium- and long-term investing—to say nothing of retirement—are practically meaningless for someone yet to start a career. "When I was 15, I thought 25 was old," Omar jokes. "Most kids are just trying to make it through high school; looking ahead to college is about as long term as it gets."

However, a teen's long time horizon is also their biggest advantage, so introducing the concept of compound interest is a must.

"Start by looking at realistic sums they can relate to," Patrick suggests. For example, if they save just $50 a month in an interest-bearing account, how much money would they have after five years—and how much of that would be principal and how much accumulated interest? "Once they understand the basics, you can begin to look further out, showing them how powerful compounding can be, especially when contemplating a near 50-year time horizon."

Even when investing within the safeguards of specialized teen accounts, beginning investors are bound to make mistakes—and those first losses can feel extra painful when it's their own money on the line. "People tend to feel more pain from losses than they do enjoyment from gains," Omar explains, referring to a cognitive bias known as loss aversion.

Fortunately, teenage brains may be better equipped to learn from "prediction errors"—or the gap between what they thought would happen and what actually happened—than are the brains of most fully mature adults, according to research from the University of California, Los Angeles.² This developmental advantage could help them more easily learn from—rather than be deterred by—their losses, building resilience to the market's ups and downs and making it potentially more palatable to stick to their plan later in life.

Speaking of discomfort, discussing investment strategies with a teenager can bring up difficult feelings. "Talking about money can be hard, even when the stakes are low," Patrick says.

But sharing your financial experience matters enormously. A study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communication found that parents are still the biggest influences on a teenager's financial literacy and knowledge.⁴ Indeed, teens who are able to observe, discuss, and learn from their parents' finances have healthier financial behaviors across the board: more savings, less debt, higher credit scores, and fewer loan defaults and foreclosures later in life.

Plus, kids want to learn from their parents. Schwab's Teen Investing Survey found that 83% of teenage respondents want their parents involved in their investing activities, and 53% see it as a bonding opportunity.

"The teenage years are a time when our kids start to pull away and really become their own people," Omar says. "So, to still have an area of their lives where they're looking for connection and guidance? You've got to lean into that."