What should a 15 year old do to be on track with finances?

Answer 1

Read my friend read.

Learn the value of work

Get a good education

learn how to associate with people

Books
Richest man in Babylon
Rich dad poor dad
How to win friends and influence people
Think and Grow Rich
Learn as much about real estate as you can

Answer 2

Starting so early is the best thing you can do. First of all, get educated. Learn about investing, business, markets, real estate, etc. You have plenty of time to become well informed. But here are the basics:

1. If you're making any money at all (babysitting, part time job, etc.) then you can open and contribute to a Roth IRA. Do it. You can put up to $5000/year in those ($4000 for 2006). This money is best saved for retirement, but you can always take out your contributions (not earnings) if you want/need to. You can take out the whole thing for college tuition, your first home, if you get a disability, etc. Your money will grow 100% tax free.

2. Start saving cash for your other goals. Maybe you want to buy a car, a condo/house, study abroad, go on spring break, an engagement ring, whatever. Let the cash pile up in a money market account earning at least 5%.

3. Establish credit. Get a credit card in your name. Just having the account open will establish credit (don't max out the card; don't even use it if you don't want to). By the time you need a car loan or a mortgage, you will already have good credit (length of credit history is a major factor).

If you do those two things you will be FAR ahead of most Americans.

Answer 3

I suppose you could get part-time jobs, which you could write about in CVs (for entering a university in the future, for example), so you will have somewhat 'disposable income'. Not only that, I believe that the experiences could also help you get better adapted to working in different environments later in life.
Alternatively, you could start learning how to manage finances by being more aware of news on politics and finance, as I believe these are key elements for decision-making in financing. Although this may not straightaway help you start keeping on track with finances, it would certainly help you with your future life financially.

Answer 4

Time for you to start an IRA & investing. You can start buying stocks anytime now and get interested in your financial future, and no time like the present to teach yourself a few things.

You can get stock directly from companies for as little as $50. Check out "direct purchase plans" on the web and see if there is a company that interests you. Simply call them and request their prospectus and investor package, ITS FREE !!

You then need to head to a financial adviser or banking institute that will set up and IRA for you. You can put a mutual fund withint that IRA. There are numerous IRA's to choose from. I suggest a ROTH IRA due to your age.

Get your friends involved and play a mock stock market. Learn as you go and after you have gained some investing self esteem you can open an online broker accoount with a company such as "scott trade".

Limit time spent with friends who do not want what YOU want fiancially in life for you have nothing to gain from them. Also befriend people who are where you want to be and learn what they do. Read read read any book by the authors : Robert Kiyosaki, Ric Edelman, & Suze Orman. Learn what they teach and apply it to YOUR Life and you will be soooooooooooo much farther ahead than the ones around you not caring about thier finances.

Only you can make your financial future a dream come true ! CHOOSE to do something about it !!

: )
.

Answer 5

At 15 I think the most important thing to do is to learn how to handle your money. When you receive money you should be able to save some, give some away, and spend some for yourself.

One way you can do this is to have 3 envelopes for saving, spending, and giving, and put a little bit in each envelope. For the spending and giving envelope, once you've used it up, you're done with that until you get more money.

The other important lesson to learn is that if you don't need to buy something if you don't have the money to pay for it. If you don't have enough money, save up and buy it when you do.

Answer 6

Learn to use money wisely. Learn the difference between what an asset and liability is, then, you'll make better decisions in future. Learn about good debt and bad debt; good expenses and bad expenses. Also, thoroughly learn about the effects of compound interest.

If you hate math, make sure the one class you pay attention to is the class on compound interest. Once you learn the effects of it, you'll never keep a high credit card balance. Also, once you learn about compund interst you'll be able to use it to your advantage in future. Also, learn how to read financial statements; it'll come in handy in your adult life.

Answer 7

Could you be a bit more specific? Is this 15 year old trying to start an investment portfolio, or is he/she trying to make the best use of his spending money?

Answer 8

If u r comfortable with computer