You might call this blog entry things I wish I knew when I was a kid. However, I did learn some good "rules of thumb" when I was young.

1. A penny saved is a penny earned
2. Save money for a rainy day.
3. Pay yourself first from your wages or allowance.
4. Take care of your nickels and dimes and they'll take care of you.
5. When you want something, save for it.

Unfortunately, there were no courses on basic financing or investing at school or anywhere else.

Even today, I don't thing there's much for kids on money management or finding a job in today's world. However, there is information on work  and investing for teens and preteens on the internet.

Grownups and even bankers have a sorry record when it comes to investing and saving. Look at the mortgage/debt crisis in the United States. I've written many blog entries on that subject below. 

The trouble is most people get into spending habits when they're quite young and it's hard to develop saving habits later in life. Here's some tips to help you develop savings and investing habits for the rest of your life:

1. Put your loose change into different piggy banks, one for pennies, one for nickels, one for dimes and one for quarters. The savings will accumulate over time.
2. Open a high interest sayings account at a bank. President's Choice offers a 3.05%  account at service centres which are found in Loblaw's  and Fortino's grocery stores.
3. Get your mother/father and grandparents to contribute into RESPs (Registered Educational Saving Plans) for you.
4. Practice buying and selling stocks through an online discount brokerage like Questrade. You can do this for 30 days on the website using play money.
5. Develop your own source of income through "jobs that kids can do".

Please email me back on any successes you have on the above program: qualteam@rogers.com.