Online Resources for Becoming a Financially Savvy Family

The Internet can be a great way for parents who don't feel well versed in one financial area or another to learn together. I have compiled (and provided some highlights of) Web sites, addresses, and phone numbers when relevant, to help you and your kids learn and have fun together, whatever end of the financial literacy spectrum you are on. My selection for listing is in no way an endorsement of any products or services the Web companies may offer. Use the table below to see which Web sites are geared for your kids' age level.

Internet Ratings Guide

Allowance / Banking / Budgets / Charitable Giving / College / Consumer Issues / Credit Cards / Entrepreneurship / Investing / Job Hunting / Saving / Miscellaneous / Financial Literacy

Keep in mind that new Web sites appear and old ones disappear all the time. Check back from time to time, when we update this list.

Allowance

Family Bank (PG13)

• Easy-to-use software to help parents prepare their children to deal responsibly with their allowance and other earned income

• Establishes a “virtual bank” on the family’s home computer, with an allowance account for each child

• Allows parents to specify the weekly allowance

• A program that includes a chart of expense and income categories, the percentage of the allowance (deposits) to place in savings, and interest rates for savings

• Each deposit or withdrawal recorded in a register with pie charts to graphically show each child’s spending patterns

Kids’ Money (PG13, P)

• Articles

• Lists of books, links to articles for kids and parents

• Surveys and survey results

Practical Money Skills for Life (K–6, PG13, 7–12)

• How-to advice on how to set allowance and make it an effective learning tool

Banking

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (PG13, 7–12, P)

• Allowance Room and Money Machine

• The Great Treasure Hunt game lets kids dig for coins by traveling back in time or cruising around the world. Each coin they discover comes with either a money fact, allowance tip or saving tip

FDIC’s Learning Bank (PG13, 7–12) 800-276-6003

• Carmen Cents describes how banks work and the role of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Sovereign Bank’s KidsBank (PG13, 7–12)

• Lessons about money, banks, saving, electronic funds transfer

• Quizzes on each lesson

• Millionaire, holiday savings, and saving up for a car calculators

• Message board where your questions get answered the next day

Young Americans Center for Financial Education Foundation and Bank

(PG13, 7–12, YA) 303-321-2954

• Describes the history of money

• Calculates future cost of college tuition, how much you have to save to become a millionaire using different types of investments (savings account, bonds, mutual funds, stock market), and time horizons

• Lists money-earning ideas

• Provides information on its programs such as Young AmeriTowne, Young Entrepreneur Programs, and a classroom savings initiative

Education Foundation

311 Steele Street

Denver, CO 80206

Budgets

Mapping Your Future’s Budget Calculator (YA, P)

• A provider of free college, career, financial aid, and financial literacy services for students, families, and schools, which includes a budget calculator that figures out how much monthly and annual disposable income you have left after subtracting typical expenses from income sources

Radford University Office of Financial Aid’s Budget Calculator (YA, P)

• Helps college students budget their money for the semester. Why don’t more colleges and universities offer students money-management resources?

Charitable Giving

The Better Business Bureau® Wise Giving Alliance (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Rates almost 250 charitable organizations

• Lists charitable giving criteria, smart giving tips

Internet Nonprofit Center (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Library of publications and data about nonprofit organizations

• Nonprofit locator to help find any charity in the U.S.

• Chat room and bulletin boards

Volunteer Match (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Enter your zip code and up pops local organizations where kids, teens, adults, and groups can volunteer. Also includes virtual volunteering—activities you can do from the Internet such as technical assistance (online research, translating material into another language for a nonprofit agency), direct contact via e-mail, or a chat room (to electronically visit a homebound person, provide online mentoring, help students with homework)

College

CampusTours (7–12, YA, P)

• Links to hundreds of online tours developed by colleges and universities (usually still images with text, but more and more video and audio tours are appearing)

College Board (7–12, YA, P)

• Choosing a college: college search, college applications online, finding a college that fits, what admissions officers look for in students, guide to campus visits, exploring college locations

Paying for college

• Helps you calculate how much you should expect to contribute (called expected family contribution or EFC), how much you need to save to do so, and how repayment of student loans can impact your own and your children’s future finances

• Paying for college: college costs, financial aid, borrowing for college, financial aid calculators, scholarship search, scholarships for service

CollegeNET (7–12, YA, P)

• Allows students to apply to more than 1,500 colleges and universities without having to retype application information

• Search engine helps students search for schools according to various criteria

• Scholarship search

• Financial aid info

Degree Directory (YA, P)

• A portal for students and working professionals to obtain independently researched and current information about any undergraduate degree, graduate degree, or career education program available

fastWEB (7–12, YA, P)

• Lists information about more than 600,000 scholarships (500 awards are added or updated each day)

• Free scholarship search

• Information about student loans, work study, and grant programs

FinAid (7–12, YA, P)

• Lists financial aid scams

• Free scholarship search

• Financial aid calculators

• Prepaid state tuition plans—terms and contact information

• Online Applications

U.S. Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) (7–12, YA, P) 800-4-FED-AID

• Lets you complete and submit FAFSA application online

• Describes major federal student aid programs (who is eligible and how to apply), tax credits for education expenses, and other federal, state, and private sources of information

• Guide to Defaulted Student Loans tells how to get out of default

Nellie Mae (7–12, YA, P)

• Describes repayment options

• Interactive debt counseling with calculators and work sheets

Peterson’s (7–12, YA, P)

• Data about colleges and universities

• Information about internships, financial aid, study-abroad programs, summer programs career guidance

Princeton Pike Corporate Center

2000 Lenox Drive

Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

609-896-1800

Princeton Review (7–12, YA, P) 609-683-0082

• Data about colleges and universities

• Information about financial aid, internships, summer programs, study abroad, and career guidance

252 Nassau Street

Princeton, NJ 08542

Sallie Mae (7–12, YA, P)

• Financial aid facts

• Searchable database of low-cost lenders

• College planning calculators can be used live on the Internet, or you can download CollegeCalc software and use the calculators and key information off-line

• Calculators for forecasting college costs, savings, expected family contribution, borrowing needs, accrued interest on your loan, monthly budget, repayment

estimates

Student Contests (K–6, 7–12, P)

• Searchable database of contests

Student Contest News

P.O. Box 4314

Tulsa, OK 74159-0314

U.S. Department of Education (7–12, YA, P) 800-USA-LEARN

• How to get ready for school early

• Financial aid info

http://studentaid.ed.gov/guide

• Info on parent and student loans, grants, work study, and repayment

U.S. Department of Education

600 Independence Ave. SW

Washington, DC 20202-0498

U.S. News & World Report (7–12, YA, P) 800-836-6397 ext. 1400

• Ranks colleges

• Searchable college directory outlining admissions, academics, financial aid, campus life, and international students

• Ranks financial aid best values

• Provides financial aid counselors online

• Worksheet for comparing financial aid award packages

Yahoo! (7–12, YA, P)

• Lists Web sites of colleges and universities

• Information and advice on academic competitions, admissions, books, distance learning, graduate education, guidance, honors programs, and lecture note-taking services

Consumer Issues

The Better Business Bureau® Children’s Advertising Review Unit (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Information about advertising and your child

Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.

4200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 800

Arlington, VA 22203-1804

The Cash Register Game (PG13, K–6)

• Kids figure out how many of each bill or coin they expect to get back when they pay for something

FrugalFun (YA, P) 800-683-WORD

• Free money-saving advice

Credit Cards

Bank Rate Monitor (YA, P)

• Banking news, advice on shopping for the best rates, latest trends in bank fees, mortgages, credit cards, home-equity loans and lines, auto loans, personal loans, and CDs

Debtors Anonymous® (YA, P) 781-453-2743

• Description and history of the nonprofit self-help 12-step program

• How to order its literature, audiotape, and newsletter

• How to register for groups

Debtor’s Anonymous

General Service Office

P.O. Box 888

Needham, MA 02492-0009

Equifax (YA, P)

• Online ordering of your credit report

Experian (YA, P) 888-397-3742

• Ordering info of your credit report

• Ask Max—credit advice

• Info about credit reports, and how to get and repair credit

The Federal Reserve Board (YA, P) 202-452-3245

• Shop: The Credit Card You Pick Can Save You Money—includes a guide to understanding credit card rates, how to figure out how much you’ll pay, a credit card shopper’s checklist, deciphering the application and a glossary

MyVesta® (YA, P) 800-680-3328

• List of publications about managing credit, avoiding scams, etc. (some free, some not) and ordering info

• Credit, debt counseling and bill-minder services,

for a fee

National Foundation for Consumer Credit (YA, P) 800-388-2227

• Online budget debt test to see if you are heading for trouble (in Budget Calculators section)

• Info about credit reports, bankruptcy, and getting out of trouble

National Foundation for Consumer Credit

8611 Second Avenue, Suite 100

Silver Spring, MD 20910

United College Marketing Services (YA, P)

• Top 10 credit tips

• Online credit strategy seminar for college students

• Order free (for college students) transaction recorders

United College Marketing Services

2021 Midwest Road, 3rd Floor

Oak Brook, IL 60521

Entrepreneurship

Future Business Leaders of America (7–12, YA, P)

• An educational association of more than 250,000 students (who must be enrolled in at least one business class) preparing for careers in business, with 13,000 chapters at middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the country.

Junior Achievement (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Description of K–12 programs, how to get involved, list of offices

LavaMind’s Learning Series (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Description and order info for games such as Gazillionaire, Zapitalism, and Profitania

• Download free shareware version of Gazillionaire

U.S. Small Business Administration’s Teen Business Link (7–12, YA, P)

• Ideas for your business

• Put it in writing

• $$$ Cha-Ching: Money matters

• Avoiding legal business hassles

• Your business body list

• Meet successful young entrepreneurs

Investing

A.G. Edwards Big Money Adventure (PG13, 7–12, YA)

• Rainbow Castle: games and a variety of pictures to print and color (for ages 2 to 6)

• Storybook Adventures: lets you choose the paths the characters travel to determine how the story ends while learning about investing money (for ages 6 to 10)

• Star Traders: stock-picking game where winners are awarded prizes (for ages 10 to adult)

FinanceCenter (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Directory of mutual funds for past year’s top 25 best funds in 45 categories

• Charts year-to-date prices of mutual funds

• Lets you track your investments in up to 10 personal portfolios

• Provides the latest news about your favorite companies

Good Money (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Performance of 30 Good Money Stock Average versus the Dow Jones Industrial Average

• Social funds and banks

• Company profiles, articles, studies, and how-to guides

• Online forums and chats

GreenMoney Online Guide (PG13, 7–12, YA, P) 505-988-7423

• Links to socially responsible products, mutual funds, banks, and credit unions

• Articles about socially responsible investing

Investing for Kids (7–12, YA, P)

• ThinkQuest stock market game

• Financial quiz

• Stock learning center

• Goal calculator

• Glossary of terms

Securities Industry Foundation for Economic Education (school classes)

• Stock Market Game: allows classes, grades 4–12, to sign up to simulate stockmarket trading

Smith Barney Young Investors Network (PG13, 7–12, YA)

• Setting savings and investment goals

• Selecting investments to fit your goals

• Tracking investment performance

• Creating a cyber portfolio

• Savings and budget, investment, and college cost calculators

Stein Roe’s Young Investor Fund (PG13, 7–12, YA, P) 800-338-2550

• Stock market game

• Game room with memory and trivia games, brain teasers, crosswords, and rebus puzzles (using pictures and words to make another word or phrase)

• Information about the Young Investor mutual fund

• Kid-to-kid surveys of investment questions and answers

• Two new games: Drive a car down Wall Street in the Stock Car Race Game where you rage for bulls and beware of bears; or catch a stock on the New York Stock Exchange in the Stock Drop Game where stocks drop at a rapid rate

Job Hunting

Brass Ring (YA, P)

• Online résumé posting/searching

• Listing of high-tech career opportunities

• High Technology Careers magazine

• In-person technology career events

• Career boards

• Targeted resume databases

CareerLife (YA, P)

(by Crystal Barklay, author of How to Help Your Child Land the Right Job (Without Being a Pain in the Neck)

• Eleven career myths that prevent people from pursuing their dream, which the site claims is “the most practical career step your child can make”

• Six steps to help your child successfully pursue their dream

CollegeRecruiter (YA, P)

• Mega search feature that allows our users to search and apply to 500,000 job openings being advertised on multiple job boards

• Career Center offers articles, experts, career assessment, a salary wizard

Hot Jobs (YA, P)

• Lists hundreds of thousands of positions, clearly marking jobs that are not posted by corporate members

• Allows job seekers to block specified companies from searching their resume with its Hotblock technology

JamminJobs (YA, P)

• Online job board that allows searches by city, state, keyboard, career, industry

JobHunt (YA, P)

• Lists and ratings of career sites

• Lists job openings, mostly in science, engineering, and medicine

• Directory of recruiting agencies

Job Search USA (YA, P)

• Job listings by category and state

• Post your résumé

JobSmart (YA, P)

• Public library-sponsored job listings in California and New Jersey

• Résumé preparation tips

• Online career guides and databanks

• Describes the “hidden job market” for the best jobs that are never advertised, and how to find them

• Tips for putting a résumé on the Internet

JobTRAK (now part of Monster.com) (YA)

• Available only to students or alumni

• Posts new job openings daily, targeted to students and alumni

• Résumé posting

• InterviewTrak: Campus Interview System: A new service allows you to see who is recruiting on campus, submit your résumé, and sign up for interviews, all online

• Job-search tips including advice on creating a résumé and negotiating a salary package, and city salary comparisons

• Career contact database of alumni, employers, parents, and friends representing diverse career fields nationwide, who have shared their career experiences with students and alumni

• Career Forums offer advice from career center professionals, human resources staff, and peers

• Career Index describes thousands of careers, including the outlook in their particular industry and salary ranges

Monster (YA, P)

• Search more than 1 million jobs worldwide

• More than 3,000 pages of career advice, resume help and interview tips

• Online seminars on recruitment

• Career fairs

• Info on entry-level jobs, relocation, and apartments

• Résumé builder

Resumix (YA, P)

• Step-by-step guide to create, format, and submit a résumé online, to be compatible with the latest human resources software systems

The Riley Guide (YA, P)

• A directory of employment and career information sources and services on the Internet

• Job listings by location, industry, discipline, and occupation-specific resources

• Resources for women, minorities, and other groups

• Links to information for writing résumés

• Self-employment ideas, temp work, summer work, volunteer opportunities

• Resources for specific occupational areas

• Career guides, salary information

• Information on trends in employment and industry

• Resources for targeting employers and researching an employer once you have an interview scheduled

• Salary guides and other compensation and wage information

• Preparing your résumé for the Internet

• Using the Internet in your job search

• Help with cover letters, résumés, interviews

Skillometer (YA, P)

• Tests for IT professionals to demonstrate their proficiencies, adding value to their resumes and making them more marketable and attractive to prospective employers.

Summer Jobs (7–12, YA, P)

• Search for seasonal and part-time jobs by location or keyword for high-school and college students

• Browse company profiles

• Find job-hunting tips

• Success stories

• Links to other employment sites

Vault.com (7–12, YA, P)

• Continually updated “insider” information on more than 3,000 companies and 70 industries

• Electronic WaterCooler! Company-specific message boards for employees where tens of thousands of people share corporate and career news, network, ask for job advice, and learn about trends shaping the workforce

• Includes VaultMatch™, a free résumé service that lets users post résumés allowing potential employers to contact them

• Free job board

What Color Is Your Parachute (YA, P)

• Advice on creating and posting résumés, networking, and researching jobs

• Links to online job-hunting sources

• Tests & Advice

• Top advice sites

• Making key contacts

• Where to find openings

• Creating and posting résumés

• Plan B: If you strike out

World Wide Web Employment Office (YA, P)

• Lists résumé sites by field or occupation

• Allows you to link your résumé to its site for $10 a year

Saving

Kidnexions (K-6, PG 13, 7-12)
A virtual kids' savings program designed for kids ages 6 and up that helps parents and children encourage and keep track of savings. Allows kids to make deposits and withdrawals, receive allowances and Rewards (interest and/or matching funds) and view their statement history over time.

It’s a Habit (K–6)

• Teaches financial literacy and other empowering life skills and habits in a strategic manner (both entertaining and educational) to youth with entertaining and educational books and music

Kids’ Money (PG13, 7–12, YA, P)

• Links to savings games, articles, resources

pages.prodigy.com/kidsmoney/piggy.htm

• Kids send in pictures of themselves with their banks

Save for America (P) 206-746-0331

• Information about a computerized school savings program, run by adult volunteers, that teaches students in grades 4–6 how to maintain a savings account. Schools must be sponsored by a bank.

Save for America

4095 173rd Place SE

Bellevue, WA 98008

Miscellaneous

Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (7–12, YA, P) 800-GAMBLER

• Studies, statistics

• 20 questions to test if you have a gambling problem

• Links to more than 275 self-help Web sites

• Hotline numbers and Web sites of 36 regional affiliate offices

Creative Parents (P)

• An enormously useful parenting resource with articles, interviews, reviews, activities, surveys culled by an educational psychologist, parenting expert, and media consultant whose work has reached millions of parents and children

The Money Camp (7–12, YA, P) 805-957-1024

• A day camp for middle- and high-school-age kids that introduces financial tools they need to choose and create financial independence, with fun-filled games, activities, group exercises and field trips

Shoplifters Anonymous (7–12, YA, P) 888-466-2299

• Articles about why shoplifters steal and legal consequences

• How to change behavior through education

• Quotes from shoplifters

• Information about Shoplifters Alternative—a research and rehabilitation program through home education

Shoplifters Anonymous

380 North Broadway

Jericho, NY 11753