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A new survey conducted by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy shows that less than half of high school seniors could correctly answer basic questions about personal finance. That's the worst score in the six times the survey has been conducted. If you have kids, which half do they fall into?

In addition, just 48 percent of students surveyed realize that a person who pays only the minimum due on a credit card each month will end up paying more in finance charges than those who pay more than the minimum. In fact, 18 percent thought the person who pays off the entire balance each month will pay the most finance charges.

In response to another question, 51 percent of the seniors demonstrated that they understand the concept of compound interest. They realized that mythical "Mary," who started investing $2,000 a year at age 25, will end up with a lot more money than "Rob," who started saving for retirement at age 50, with $4,000 a year.

If our youth don't start out with a solid foundation of financial knowledge, their generation could be in trouble. There are some great resources available – like feedthepig.org (sponsored by the AICPA) – to help young adults make sound financial decisions.

It's never too early to start planning for the future. Talk to your kids today.

-parts of this article were taken from Karen Datko's blog on MSN.com


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