How do you teach your teens about money—short of lending them your credit card and praying that they don’t hand it back to you maxed out?

How is it that your teens are so adept in the financial philosophy of “buying now,” but you’re the one who gets stuck “paying later”?

Why are your teens too young to have their own checking account or debit card, but old enough to spend hundreds of dollars shopping online?

Teens are growing up today in a world where it’s going to be harder for them to afford to go to school, harder for them to get jobs, and harder for them to do almost anything and everything. You know and I know that the debt the United States of America has incurred is not necessarily falling on us, but on the future of our children.

First of all, in all the years I’ve been educating people about their money, I’ve come to know that children do not listen to what you say, they do what you do. Look in the mirror, people. Look in the mirror.

Do you tell your child, “No,” when you are constantly saying “Yes,” to things that you may want but don’t really need? You have to live the truth with your children. You have got to build them up to be strong, so they can hold up to anything that comes their way. Constantly saying to them: “yes, yes, yes”—when you should be saying to them: “no, no no”—only weakens them in their fabric, in their character, in their integrity and in their ability to rise to the occasion no matter what happens.

When you’re upset about your money and you say such things as, “I hate working but I have to make money” or “We don’t have enough money” or “We have to live in this tiny apartment,” how are these statements going to make them feel? They’re going to take on your energy and your attitude about money.

When you talk about money to your children, remember to talk with joy and pride about who you are and not with shame for what you don’t have. Wouldn’t you rather have honesty and integrity in your own lives than a whole bunch of credit card debt so your kids can have toys and other things that they don’t even play with three months after you bought them?

We have the ability to stand in the truth and open up our conversation with our family and show the world that we’re a people who speak the truth and live the truth. And that’s what dreams are made of.

Now many parents have come to me and said, “Why are my kids in debt? Why aren’t they living the way I want them to live?” “How can I teach them to handle their money without making the mistakes that I made?”

Well, you spoke. I heard. And what you said mattered to me. So I decided to do something about it. I want to help you teach your teens about money. I want to help you feel good about your finances. I want to give you a place to bring your money home to—a place that really values you and puts people first. So I decided to create my own prepaid card. It’s The Approved Prepaid MasterCard®.  

The Approved Card is simply a prepaid card that you load money onto — you prepay the amount of money that you use. It’s that easy. It’s not a debit card that’s attached to a checking or credit union account.

It stands all on its own.  No credit check. No background check. No checking account.

So let’s say that you’re a single mom with 3 kids who are at least 13 years of age or older, you can purchase a card for yourself for $3.  Once you receive your card, you can use your online account to order cards for each of your three teens with no additional purchase fee; you pay $3 and get 4 cards!  

But don’t worry about your teens maxing out these cards. This is a prepaid card, so you prepay the amount of money that they can use. Plus, they can get balance and transaction texts*, just like you can. And you can monitor how they use their Approved Card by checking your Approved Dashboard.

The Approved Card can help you teach your teens about financial responsibility, and it’s also great for students away at school.

You know I will do everything in my power to tell you everything you need to know. You can always bank on me because I have your best interest at heart. Learn more about The Approved Card here.

^{*Standard text messaging rates from your wireless service provider may apply.
The Approved Prepaid MasterCard is issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to license from MasterCard International Incorporated.  The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC.  Use this card everywhere Debit MasterCard is accepted.  MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated.}