College is top savings goal for teens
By Mitch Gannaway on 2009-10-09 15:53:40
Stroll through the mall on a weekend and you get the impression teens save money to buy clothes or iPods and video game systems, but a new survey shows their priority is quite different — saving for college.
The survey by online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. shows putting money away for higher education is the top savings goal for today's teens. The results showed 62 percent of teens aged 14 through 19 save their money for college, a much higher rate than the 40 percent of adults who said they saved when they were teens.
The results weren't expected by educators who are pushing for financial literacy education in schools.
"It's a pleasant surprise that we're seeing young people paying that much attention to the importance of this issue," said Joseph Peri, CEO of the nonprofit Council for Economic Education. "Part of teaching the importance of investing is showing that the best investment a young person can make is an investment in themselves."
Peri's group and several other educational organizations are holding a conference in Washington this weekend in which 500 educators and government officials are discussing ways to teach basic financial literacy in schools. That means educating students about budgeting, bank accounts, investing and saving.
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