Growing up, we’ve all asked our parents for a few dollars for frivolous spending. Over time, those dollars can add up to a sizable investment squandered or retirement cushion lost. As Gen Y begins interrogating their own young children as to why they now need those 5, 10, 20 dollars themselves, the idea of saving at home becomes an even more prevalent concern.

For parents, the increasing adaptation of touch-less technology can help ease the burden of weekend spending at the mall by teenagers, as could a few other financially responsible resources. As an affiliate marketer, this is a prime opportunity to become as integral a part of a parent’s life as smartphone payments and dealing with unfounded angst.

 

 

 


 

Smarter Splurging
MasterCard’s recently released study, Smarter Spending and Saving shows that the largest expenditure of cash at home is paying teenagers. Though they may be figuratively kicking and moaning themselves, many parents will inevitably give in to their child’s requests for some pocket money out of a need to provide support for their young. Continually providing cash to kids at home who choose to or cannot find jobs isn’t just detrimental to the development of their financial independence — but it can take sizable chunks out of plans parents may have for themselves.

Rather than watching as parents uncontrollably shell out money for their teens, there are methods an affiliate marketer can use to help them regain control. By promoting credit and prepaid card products on your site that employ touch-less spending technology like tapping or swiping smartphones at checkout, parents can monitor and control exactly how much their teens spend.

The Advantages of Trackable Spending
This form of digital allowance surveillance can be used to slowly ween teens off their parents, as well as provide helicopter parents the airspace they need to pull away while still providing the compulsory support they might deem necessary. If the teens asking for financial support aren’t even responsible enough to be trusted with their own phone for paperless spending, or magically “lose” their phones whenever a new model comes out on the market, there are other opportunities for you to help parents help their brood.

Power of Prepaid
Prepaid cards can be used for far more than just safely traveling abroad and budgeting how much you spend on souvenirs, they can also be used by parents to control how much “fun money” they give their teens on a regular basis.

Promoting prepaid cards to parents as a method for budgeting teenage spending is another strategy that can be employed by affiliate marketers to reach this demographic, providing plentiful opportunities to appeal to a broader online audience. Cards with strict limits and no overdraft fees can teach teens to begin budgeting their expenses, and provide their parents with the peace of mind that they won’t have to pay for bank fees because of extra expenditures. There are even several prepaid card programs designed especially for teens and young adults that require a parent or cosigner to apply.

Until they are able to stand on their own financially, teenagers can become an incredibly taxing burden on parents, even aside from what many would consider normal expenses that come with raising a new generation. Giving parents multiple opportunities to budget the funds they provide their young ones not only provides effective methods for teaching financial literacy and independence, it grants you as an affiliate marketer many opportunities to reach a whole new group of potential customers with content you are familiar and experienced with. With a few strategically-placed banners on your website, you may be able to help parents cut the cord sooner than they thought possible.

 

*Featured image courtesy Pink Sherbet Photography on flickr.com.