Without a community and a concrete place to turn for personalized resources, navigating these decisions is isolating and frustrating,” says Bellaire. “With Gen-Z’s focus on mental health, they’re looking for a place to ease their fear of missing out and falling behind.” Embracing the financial ABCs Is this the year you're finally going to pay off that big credit card? Or better yet, start saving for that home? Take the time today to create a game plan for one of your financial goals. Look at how much money you need to reach your goal, then figure out when you'd like to reach that goal. Figure out how many months that'll give you, then divide the total funds needed to reach your goal by the number of months until your goal date. Viola! You now have a plan and a fixed number to put into your budget! Create routines in your home - Routines will change, but the basic theory behind them will stay with children well into adult years.

Make those annual physical exams, two dental cleaning, and gynecologist appoints if you don’t already have them scheduled! Seriously, just schedule them, even if you need to reschedule, at least you’ll have it on your calendar to deal with at a later date.

When to Start Adult Training

Focus on a few basic meal recipes - Scrambled eggs, pasta dishes, grilled cheese, and baked potatoes are all things that even the most clueless chef can create in a kitchen.

Morin suggests that parents consider sharing with their growing children the financial hurdles and burdens of life rather than hiding them. It is an instinct to want to shelter children from the adult stressors in the world, but discussing budgeting and finances in their presence can be quite helpful to this aspect of their development. Having money conversations with older children present does several helpful things.

Who You Gonna Call? Not Mom!

Starting to save for retirement as early as possible is like paying your future self and giving you more optionality down the line,” says Bellaire. Compounding interest—a near-magical financial principle—on 401(k)s or IRAs means that the earlier you start saving for retirement, the more money you’ll have to enjoy later in life. “Prioritizing setting aside some money each month in accounts like this also has positive tax consequences you don’t find with other savings accounts, so it’s doubly helpful!” Kids these days don't have to learn the art of scheduling; they are told where to be and when by their parents, their friends over text, and the almighty Google calendar. When they waltz into the real world, mastering schedules will become essential to their success. Get your teens and adult children to take accountability for themselves.