Schools aren’t teaching financial literacy, yet today’s teens face bigger money challenges than ever. Author and teen mentor Noah Hawkins reveals the seven habits that can transform their future.

The world is a place where almost anything you want to know is just a tap away on your phone. And yet, society seems to be missing a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to preparing children for real life: how to handle their money. This knowledge gap leaves teenagers on their own to figure out a complicated financial world, succeeding or failing based on their limited experience. 

Noah Hawkins, a financial mentor for teens and author of The Easy Peasy Guide to Money Skills for Teens, wants to fix this. His book offers practical advice on money skills for teens, including budgeting for teens and financial education for parents, which can make learning about money feel easy, fun, and even give them a sense of control. The book is backed by the endorsement of Tracey L. Weston, CFP®️, a Certified Financial Planner, underscoring the credibility, authority, and accuracy of its guidance, a major differentiator among other teen finance books.

The Silent Drain

Young people of today are facing financial pressures like never before. The easy temptation of online shopping and the constant trends online expose teens to an ongoing plethora of new things to spend their money on. 

Hawkins’s teen finance workbook talks about what he calls the “dopamine trap”: how social media platforms, with endless videos of people showing off shopping hauls, can trick a teen’s brain into wanting things right now instead of thinking about their financial futures. Many parents watch their kids’ money just disappear, and they don’t know how to help. And teens themselves, with less experience and emotional maturity than adults, might not even realize how much money is draining away until it’s too late. But there are ways teens can break free from this cycle, something Hawkins tackles head-on in his new book.

From Money Mistakes to Mentoring

Hawkins has been there. Growing up middle-class in Chicago, his family rarely talked about money. As a teenager, and then as a college student, he admits to making pretty much every money mistake in the book: blowing his paycheck right out of the gate, racking up debt without understanding what it meant, and thinking credit cards were basically free money. 

His early blunders, though embarrassing, ended up being the reason he spent the next ten years taking an interest in personal finance for youth and helping young adults manage money through workshops, school programs, and community events. Because he has been in their shoes, he feels he can empathize and connect with young readers, and his aim is to move beyond boring financial rules and talk about the real challenges he knows they face with the goal of encouraging smart money habits for teens.

Why Teen Financial Literacy Is Important

The Easy Peasy Guide to Money Skills for Teens takes a different approach from other financial manuals. It doesn’t just tell the reader what to do or how to do it; it digs into the reasons why financial literacy matters. Hawkins wants to help teens build solid financial habits that will last by shining a light on the psychological tricks that lead to overspending. 

The book offers families practical ways to help teens avoid money mistakes that could follow them into adulthood, and it drives home the point that knowing how to manage your money isn’t just a nice skill to develop; it’s essential to growing up and staying out of financial traps. 

The Changing Financial Landscape

The world is feeling the effects of a more unstable economy, with global changes on the horizon, rising prices, and a job market that is shifting due to AI. Knowing about and understanding money is more important than ever. These rapid changes underscore why parents cannot afford to wait; financial literacy is not optional in a world where economic volatility and AI-driven job disruption will directly shape their children’s futures.

Hawkins hopes that his guide can help educate families, schools, and youth. His long-term goal is to help a whole generation and give them the confidence and independence they need to succeed as adults. Parents who delay risk watching their teens fall into debt, spend recklessly, and develop destructive financial habits that can scar them for life. Backed by a Certified Financial Planner and praised in over 100 five-star reviews, The Easy Peasy Guide to Money Skills for Teens gives families a proven way to break that cycle, teaching teens the habits, mindset, and confidence to thrive. It isn’t just another teen finance book; it’s the must-have survival guide no parent can afford to miss.