Now that your teenager is getting ready to graduate from high school, you are probably feeling a big mix of emotions. You might be excited about the fact that your teen is ready to move on with the next stage of his or her journey in life, and you could be really proud of your son or daughter for all that he or she has accomplished so far. However, you could also be nervous and unsure of whether or not your teen is actually ready to take on the real world. These are a few things that can help you help your high school grad prepare for life beyond high school.
Encourage New Experiences
So far, your teen might not have experienced much beyond day-to-day life in your hometown and days filled with school, sports, friends and family. This can lead to a big culture shock later on. Now is a good time to encourage your high school grad to enjoy new experiences, before he or she is saddled with a ton of debt, a full-time job and a family. For example, getting your teen involved in one of the gap year service programs that can allow him or her to travel and experience new things before heading off to college can be a great idea.
Teach Your High School Grad About Finances
Even if your teen has already learned a little bit about money management from having a part-time job while in high school or from managing his or her allowance, he or she might not fully be prepared for everything that goes along with managing finances in the real world. Now is a good time to talk to your teen about things like saving for the future and for retirement, investing, purchasing insurance and more. Now is also a good time to talk to your teen about the importance of credit and how to establish good credit without getting in over his or her head in debt.
Walk Your Grad Through the Process of Buying a Car
When many teens get their driver's licenses, they often want the coolest-looking and fastest car that they can get. Now is a good time to teach your high school grad a little bit about buying a car, even if he or she is not ready to do so yet. Teaching about things like comparing prices and negotiating at the dealership, looking at safety ratings, getting a price quote for insurance, finding a good interest rate and more can all be very helpful in the future.
Help Your Teen Get an Apartment
Whether your teen is planning on going to college or going straight into the workforce, he or she is probably going to need a place to live. Your teen might need help with things like shopping for a new apartment, saving up money for his or her first place, buying furnishings and other items for the new apartment and more. Even if you aren't going to be helping financially with this process, providing tips and advice along the way can go a long way toward helping your teen get started in the real world.
Be There for Support
Just because your teen grad is not a child anymore does not mean that he or she does not need your support. In fact, you might find that your teen needs your support more than ever right now. Therefore, just being there to give advice or listen to your teen vent while he or she is going through some serious life changes can make a big difference.
As you can see, there are various things that you can do to help you prepare your high school grad for the real world. Even though your teen will probably make a few mistakes along the way, helping him or her in this way can help you set him or her up for success.
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