In this age of financial crisis and mega billion banking bailouts, it hardly seems worthwhile to be concerned with $ 5,  $10 or $20 a week.  However, if you are a kid, and that 5, 10 or 20 bucks is your allowance, you are allowed to be concerned.  More importantly, if you are the proud parent doling out that weekly cache of cash, you owe it to yourself to be concerned.  You owe it to yourself to be concerned not so much with your dwindling dollars, but rather you should be concerned with what your generous gifting of the green is teaching your kids about money management and spending, especially in our world of credit based commerce.

ONE WORD: PLASTIC!

Okay, all you cinema buffs know that Mr. McGuire actually said to Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman in THE GRADUATE) “Plastics,” but this is the blog-o-sphere, and therefore I am free to use my creative license (at least until Mr. Brogan revokes it!).  With that in mind think PLASTIC, as in CREDIT and DEBIT cards.  There has already been a lot of talk on Dad-O-Matic about when kids should be exposed to mobile phones and technology, but what about plastic?  When should your child have their own credit card?  Before you cringe and start yelling and and screaming at me, I am happy to say that the venerable VISA corporation has answered that question for us, at least as it relates to a DEBIT card.  They have this really cool pre-paid debit card product called VISA BUXX, and your child is eligible to have one on their 13th birthday.

A Visa Buxx card is a re-loadable debit card for your teen with all the purchasing acceptance of a VISA card, yet the parent is in complete control.  As the issuing parent you can control how much money is added to the card and when.  You can set spending limits for your teen and even get an email notification of every purchase they make.  There is no credit line associated with a Visa Buxx card.  Your teen can only spend the funds that have been loaded onto the card, and as they make purchases, the funds are immediately deducted from the account as with any debit card.  If you issue your child’s Visa Buxx card with a PIN, it can even be used at an ATM machine to retrieve cash (again, subject to the available balance and any spending limits you, the parent, have set).  Money can be added to a card instantaneously, and at any time, by phone or on-line.  Money can be added as a one-time load, or credits to the account can be scheduled on a recurring basis – great for automating a weekly allowance grant.  You can even give codes to grandparents and other family members that give them the ability to “gift” funds to the teen’s Visa Buxx card.

Aside from the control and convenience, giving your teen a Visa Buxx card is actually a great way to teach them some real-world lessons about money management, budgeting and spending.  It is their responsibility to manage their accounts and be wary of their current balances, which they can do on-line and through regular email statements.  By reviewing their statements with them, you can illustrate their spending habits and show them exactly where their — er, your — hard earned money is going.  This is something that would be much harder to document if they were simply spending loose cash all the time.  Another advantage of the Visa Buxx card is that it is 100% risk free.  No matter what the balance is on the card (which is capped at $500) if the card is lost or stolen you are not liable and can recover your full balance on a replacement card.  Needless to say, this would not be the case with a pocketful of cash.

TRANSACTION APPROVED BY THIS DAD!

All three of my kids, now ages 20, 18 and 17, have had Visa Buxx cards since they turned 13 and it has been a convenient, practical and educational experience for us all.  As kids, they have been given the responsibility and related confidence of managing their money and making their own purchases in a mature, adult-like fashion.  As a parent, I have been given the peace of mind that they would not be at risk of ever losing a bunch of cash, or getting stranded somewhere with empty pockets.  There has been more than one “emergency” occasion when it has been a huge advantage to be able to remotely put some needed money in my kid’s pocket on a moment’s notice.

Is your teen ready for some plastic?  Does a Visa Buxx card sound like a sound idea to you?  Please share your opinion in the comments.  Of course, if you like what you are reading on Dad-O-Matic, please subscribe by email or RSS.

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 20, Ethan, 18 and Olivia, 17).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.

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