Sink or swim? What parents can do for the kids

The teenage years are often the spending years, beginning with mobile phones, clothes, electronics and going out. Then come cars, higher education fees, travel and, if they move out of home, more bills.

Many teenagers find it hard to save money. Often they have a sense of entitlement that is hard for parents to live with, and while you want to help them you don’t want them to slip into a habit of overspending.

You want your kids to manage their finances day to day, keep track of their expenses and resist the temptation to spend money they don’t have. But it doesn’t happen automatically.

After all, they don’t really need to be responsible for money, with parents paying all their living costs. They don’t understand what saving for a rainy day is all