In 2023, less than 30 percent of young people were financially literate. In a 2024-2025 national survey by Everfi,74 percent of students felt that they need financial education right now and 21 percent felt that it was already too late.
Most teens and young adults look to parental figures or peers for financial advice and education; other times they’ll be lucky to have a personal finance class offered at school or in an extracurricular. Finances are one of the least talked about things when it comes to life skills that teens should know, but BCLS has resources to help bridge that gap!
Books on Money and Other Life Skills
Finding books that focus on personal finances while also gearing the information and language toward teens and young adults who may not know the finance lingo just yet can be hard! To get started, check out Money Skills for Teens by Ferne Bowe and Money Can Grow on Trees by Oliver Pursche for finance-specific tips.
If you want to learn more about finances and discover other life skills that you may not have known you were lacking in, then check out The Complete Life Skill Toolbox for Teens by Barret Robbins and Life Skills for Young Adults by Ferne Bowe. Both of these titles have chapters on personal finance as well as information on other skills like finding a job, living independently and how to manage relationships.
Udemy Courses for the Basics
With your BCLS card, you have access to Udemy, an online platform that provides video instruction for a wide range of skills. While most courses are geared more toward adults, the information in them is still helpful! Two simple courses on personal finance and financial literacy to check out are Simple Basics of Personal Finance and Master Your Money: 6 Steps to Financial Wellness.
College Specific Tools
If you’re getting ready to start applying or have already gotten into college, you’re probably interested in financial aid and FASFA help and guidance! Our Community Resource Navigation has information on FASFA and we have a book aptly titled Paying For College by Kalman A. Chany to help you get started.
