Financial skills are not things that teenagers learn at school. Budgeting hourly pay can be a struggle, especially if they have neither the discipline nor the self-control to do so. If you’re looking to help your kids control their finances, the best way is to give them the tools they need.

In an era of technological advancement, there should be several apps that can give your teens the power to control how they spend their money. Here are eight of the best finance apps teenagers could use.

Fidelity Youth Investment

Fidelity’s Youth Investment App is a financial tracker that lets users keep track of all of their investments in one location. The app also supports budgeting for expenses and saving goals and notifies users when their assets are close to expiring. 

Instead of letting their savings sit in an account where it doesn’t gain any value, young investors can use the app to start learning how the market works. The learning accounts can’t be touched, meaning they can use their funds to learn about investments. 

Fidelity has its own learning center that can teach kids financial concepts that are hard to teach, especially in investment opportunities. The same app also provides tools to their parents that help monitor their financial activities.

 NerdWallet 

NerdWallet offers mobile-friendly comparison tools to help users find the best credit card, bank account, or savings account. Users input their financial information, and NerdWallet compares all the options, letting the user know whether or not they will save money by switching to another option. 

NerdWallet can help users find credit cards that offer rewards and the best checking accounts. When shopping for a car, specific budget plans can be created to fit their unique needs. Users can also see how changing variables such as purchase price or down payment affect their monthly budgets.  

For young people new to budgeting and planning their financial futures, the app can help users learn about what they need and don’t need. Whether they are shopping or cashing out their savings, NerdWallet offers an easy tool they can use to make smart financial decisions. 

FamZoo

FamZoo is a family account designed to teach children about finances with virtual chores, allowance, and interest. Parents set up the app and create an account for each of their children. They can load money into the account and request specific chores. 

Once chores are complete, parents are notified and once the account is loaded, parents can assign tasks for their kids to complete. Instead of handing over money, parents can divide chores into categories. 

 Kids can learn how to budget their money by watching how it works. Children can request specific items when the account is loaded, and parents can deny or approve their requests. 

 Parents can set financial goal for their children and help them achieve them. Kids can see it grow as they reach certain benchmarks and milestones. 

Mint Financial Tracker

Mint is a free app that can help users monitor their budget in real-time. Users input their financial information, including bank account balances, credit card bills, and loans.  

The app then monitors the account and notifies the user whenever their balance is low or their bills are coming up. Instead of being surprised by unexpected bills, users can monitor their finances with Mint and take preventative measures.   

Mint’s app is a real-time tracker, meaning it updates information in the account each time the user logs in. Users can access their account information anytime, anywhere. Mint also helps users find better deals, finding the best interest rates and credit cards available. Users can also set alerts that help them track when bills are due.

Cash App  

The Cash App is a peer-to-peer payment service that acts like a digital wallet. Users can send money to other people or businesses, and the app monitors their spending. Users can also send and request money between friends, all for free.  

 The Cash App is safer than paying with a physical card. Users generate secure, unique passcodes that only they can use. Those codes let other users into the app and send money to them.  

 The app also completely locks the account if the user’s phone is lost or stolen. Money cannot be accessed without a unique passcode, so users can check their friends before sending money to other people and know they trust them. 

Savings Spree

Savings Spree is a financial app that helps users track their goals and savings. Users can create an account, keep track of their savings, and set goals. By analyzing their spending habits, Savings Spree can help users find the areas where they can start saving money and working toward their goals.  

The app tracks the current amount users have in their accounts and how much they can save. Users can set a target amount and work to meet that goal. Users can also see how much money they have spent so far, helping them make financial decisions. Savings Spree can also set travel goals, allowing users to keep track of their vacations and other trips.  

What makes Savings Spree so good is its gamification. It makes financial actions like saving and financial goals into a game that makes everything fun.

Acorns Investing

Acorns is a micro-investing app that allows users to buy small shares of stock and track their progress. Users can download the app, link a bank account, and start putting money into their accounts.  

Each share is micro, meaning it doesn’t have the same risk as other investments. Users can buy as many shares as they want, depending on what they can afford. As they buy more shares, the assets grow, and users can see their profits as they work to increase their profits.  

Acorns can help users learn about the stock market and how it works. Users set how much they can afford each week, and the app automatically puts money into their accounts. Acorns also makes investing simple.  

Users can make deposits with their computers or smartphones, speeding up the investing process. Acorns also works with over 7,000 stock types, so this should be easy for them. 

Rakuten 

Rakuten is a service that lets users buy items they can’t find anywhere else. The app works with exclusive items, allowing users to buy high-quality items at discount prices right from their smartphones.   

Rakuten offers deals on clothes, books, video games, electronics, and office supplies. Users can even buy pet supplies, including dog food and computers. Users can find exclusive deals and scroll through them. 

Rakuten even has discount events where users can access the lowest wholesale prices on exclusive products. Teens can even earn some extra money on the side in the form of rebates.

The Bottom Line

Financial apps can change the way teenagers learn to live on a budget. By monitoring their finances and helping them set goals, apps can help teens learn financial responsibility without realizing it. 

Teenagers can use these apps to set their savings and financial goals and track their progress. The apps can also help them find better deals and save even more money than just budgeting. By budgeting their hourly pay, teens can maximize their earnings, and apps can help. 

A young investor can double their money in 10 years, outperforming most other investments, so it’s worth a shot. While kids can learn from their parents and from money, there’s no better teacher than real money.