'Kids, I'd like you to meet your money...'

Since teenagers typically don't have much money beyond the cash in their wallets and a few bucks in a savings account, the notion of money management may seem surreal to them.

Which is precisely why Chad Foster, coauthor of "Financial Literacy for Teens," recommends that they learn money skills now - before they grow up, get a job, and earn money that can easily slip through their fingers without proper training.

"These kids are all going to make a million dollars over the course of their careers," says Mr. Foster. "If they don't know how to make it, manage it, multiply it, and protect it, they're going to have financial problems later in life."

When teenagers turn 18, credit becomes available to them, and studies indicate that those financial problems don't wait long to appear. People age 25 to 34 account for the second-fastest growing percentage of those filing for bankruptcy (just after those ages 35 to 44).

The Tennessee Economic Council on Women is so concerned about the plight of financially illiterate young women that it has launched a special campaign to help make them better money managers.

So what is it that you can teach kids, and when? Mr. Foster thinks separating needs from desires is a crucial skill that will be put to the test throughout life, so there's no better time to start down that path than early grade school.

The concept can begin simply enough with a few glass jars or coffee cans. Every time a child earns a dollar from chores or allowance, he or she drops an agreed-upon amount into one jar for saving, one for spending, one for investing, and one for charity.

"It's getting them in the habit early" to budget money for a particular goal, Foster says.

Then, once they hit their teenage years, they'll be better prepared to deal with spending questions.Are tanning booths a need, or a desire? Is a new sports car a need that a used sedan can't fulfill? Foster thinks teens should have these distinctions sorted out by the time they reach the seventh grade.

By that time, kids can get real jobs and earn real money. And spend it, too. So most education efforts are geared toward senior high schoolers, people like Adam Lee of Blue Bell, Pa.

The 18-year-old graduate of a private high school near Philadelphia, Adam admits that until not too long ago he was pretty naive about managing money.

"I never thought of saving a certain portion" of money made from after-school and summer jobs, Adam says. He and his mother, Kathy Lee, had talked from time to time about work and money. But Adam says it wasn't until his senior year in high school, when he bumped into a program called FIRM (Financial Independence, Responsibility, and Management) that he became serious about the subject.

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