Helping your children learn financial responsibility
You know how to handle your finances. But how do you make sure your children or grandchildren end up with the same financial skills and resources that you have?
Whether they’re heading to college or starting their first job, the young adults in your family can benefit from learning good financial habits. It's never too early or too late. Your advisor can work with you to get your children started on the right path and help them become financially responsible adults.
Getting them ready isn’t an “all at once” situation. It can be done in stages.
We've put together some resources for you, so you can start these conversations with the young adults in your family:
Learning the fundamentals
Start with a solid foundation
Saving. Budgeting. Handling a bank account. Many of us take these concepts for granted. For young adults, they can seem complicated. We would be happy to talk with them to introduce them to the basics of personal financial management and even help open accounts.
Because they are a part of your family, they could have access to privileges you have, including Preferred Rewards.1
If you have questions, contact your advisor. They’re available to help you and your family.
Making smart choices
Using credit and investments properly
As your children start working, they’ll take on new financial responsibilities, like paying credit card bills and managing their investments. It’s important that they understand how critical both are for their short- and long-term goals.
How they manage their credit can have the single largest impact on their financial life. Smart decisions at this stage can help them avoid making mistakes that could lead to a bad credit history that takes time to resolve.
Making smart investment decisions early can also get them off to a strong start, while having a lasting effect on their lives.
Your advisor can help explain all of this to them, and help you both choose and open credit cards or investment accounts, if appropriate.
More on credit and investments for your family:
- The Private Bank Financial Education Program has material for newcomers to learn financial basics and help them understand how accounts work.
- Merrill Edge® Self-Directed makes it easy to get started with helpful guidance, tools and insights along the way.
Contact your advisor to learn more about how they can help your children or grandchildren.
Giving with purpose
Help your children give back
As they grow up, it’s natural for young adults to become passionate about helping people and communities. But they may not yet understand the unique position they’re in to create real change. Similar to teaching children to save, giving back can start early with simple practices. And the earlier children learn the habit of giving, the easier and more likely it is to be sustained.
Talking about philanthropy can be rewarding for everyone. It can help you develop a deeper understanding of what matters to your loved ones. It can help them learn financial responsibility and how to contribute to your family legacy.
It’s important that young adults have a solid understanding of how the financial aspect of philanthropy works. They'll need that knowledge to work toward their goals.
Your advisor can help you have discussions about philanthropy with your family, as well as open accounts for them like donor-advised funds.
Here are resources for having conversations with your family about philanthropy:
- Giving Back: Learn the basics of philanthropy, how to get started and more.2
- The Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund: An overview of donor-advised funds and how they work.
Contact your advisor to set up a time to introduce your children to philanthropy and the tools available to them.
1 Preferred Rewards Program Eligibility. Preferred Rewards Program Eligibility. To enroll in or maintain membership in Bank of America Preferred Rewards program you must have an active, eligible personal checking account with Bank of America® and maintain the balance required for one of the balance tiers in your combined qualifying Bank of America deposit accounts (such as checking, savings, certificate of deposit) and/or your Merrill investment accounts (such as Cash Management Accounts, 529 Plans). You can satisfy the combined balance requirement for enrollment with either:
- a three-month combined average daily balance in your qualifying deposit and investment accounts or
- a current combined balance, provided that you enroll at the time you open your first eligible personal checking account and satisfy the balance requirement at the end of at least one day within 30 days of opening that account.
You must have a qualifying balance of at least $20,000 for the Gold tier, $50,000 for the Platinum tier, $100,000 for the Platinum Honors tier, $1,000,000 for the Diamond tier and $10,000,000 for the Diamond Honors tier. Bank of America Private Bank clients qualify to enroll in the Diamond tier and may qualify for the Diamond Honors tier based on their qualifying Bank of America, Merrill, and Private Bank balances. Refer to your Personal Schedule of Fees for details on accounts that qualify towards the combined balance calculation and receive program benefits, available at bankofamerica.com/fees. Eligibility to enroll is generally available three or more business days after the end of the calendar month in which you satisfy the requirements. Benefits become effective within 30 days of your enrollment, or for new accounts within 30 days of account opening, unless we indicate otherwise. Certain benefits are also available without enrolling in Preferred Rewards if you satisfy balance and other requirements. For details on Bank of America employee qualification requirements, please visit the Employee Financial Services intranet site. Employees of companies participating in the Bank of America Employee Banking and Investing Program may be eligible to enroll on customized terms. Please visit https://promo.bankofamerica.com/cebi-disclosures for details.
2 Consumer Reports, Best and Worst Charities for your Donations, November 22, 2019, https://www.consumerreports.org/charities/best-charities-for-your-donations/
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, Member SIPC, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of BofA Corp.
