Capital One Survey: More Teens Eager To Learn About Money

Capital One Financial Corporation’s (NYSE: COF) seventh annual back to school shopping survey shows that an increasing number of teens (52 percent) want to learn about how to manage their money – up from 49 percent in last year’s survey.

In addition, 80 percent believe learning the basics of money management now will serve them in the future – but a whopping 86 percent have never taken a personal finance class in school. Yet when it comes to talking to kids about the basics of money management, parents still aren’t hitting the mark, despite the fact that 35 percent of teens want to learn about money from their parents over any other option.

"We’re seeing that teens are eager to learn about money – and the good news is that they want to learn from their parents," says Lahne Mattas-Curry, financial education spokesperson for Capital One. "Back to school shopping is often overlooked as a financial education opportunity, but it’s a great way for parents to teach kids about the basics of money, including how to prioritize needs vs. wants and create a budget."

This year’s survey of 1,200 parents and teens also finds that while most parents (80 percent) continue to view themselves as positive money role models for their kids, less than half are taking advantage of day-to-day learning opportunities to initiate a dialogue with their kids:

• Fifty-two percent of teens are eager to learn more about money management, yet less than a quarter (19 percent) of parents have discussed back-to-school budgeting with them – and only 22 percent have made a list of back-to-school items to purchase.
• While almost half (48 percent) of parents have discussed the difference between ‘needs’ vs. ‘wants’; more than one-third (36 percent) have not discussed back to school finances at all with their teens.

Capital One’s survey also found some surprising facts about what teens are most interested in learning when it comes to money, as well as insight into back to school shopping lists and planned spending amounts.