6 In 10 Teens Knew About Investing Before Age 13

Charles Schwab's 2026 Teen Investing Survey turned up a number most parents would not guess. Nearly 6 in 10 teens say they became aware of investing before they turned 13.

Not in high school. Before middle school ended.

One in four teenagers is already investing their own money. They are funding it the way you would expect, from after-school jobs (53% cite job earnings) and the occasional birthday check. Their stated motivation is making money, which 45% named, followed by the chance to learn something new.

Then there is the number that should change how you handle this at home. Only 23% of teens say they actually feel ready to invest.

Read those two together. A quarter of teens are in the market. Under a quarter feel prepared for it. Those are not the same quarter, and the gap between them is where parents matter.

Access changed. That is most of the answer.

Custodial accounts have existed for decades, but they were parent-operated by design. The newer teen accounts hand over the controls. Schwab launched its Teen Investor account in March 2026 for ages 13 to 17, owned jointly with a parent or guardian. Fidelity runs both a standard custodial UGMA/UTMA and a Youth Account that teens aged 13 to 17 own and trade themselves while a parent stays connected.

A 15-year-old can now place a trade from a phone in a school hallway. The friction that used to protect kids from their worst instincts is gone.

The other half of the answer is where they learn. Schwab found teens name parents as their top investing authority at 83%, with YouTube close behind. Parents in the same survey named financial advisors.

So your kid is learning from you and from a video. One of those two you can do something about.

Trends. Specifically tech and AI, according to the survey, while their parents describe their own approach as classic and balanced.

This is not a new failure mode. It is the same instinct that produced every generation's regrettable first position, just with a faster interface.

But the worry list is worth reading closely. Teens say they are anxious about losing money and about volatility. Parents worry about their kids' losses too, plus something teens do not flag: bad advice.

That parental instinct is correct. A teenager taking stock tips from a YouTube channel with a monetized affiliate link is receiving marketing, not education, and the format makes that hard to see. The channel is not obligated to disclose anything. A registered advisor would be.

Worth saying out loud to your kid once, in plain words: the person telling you about this stock gets paid whether or not you make money.

Here is the part that surprises families later, and it has nothing to do with market returns.

Any account in your teen's name, including custodial accounts and teen brokerage accounts, counts as a student asset on the FAFSA. Student assets are assessed at up to 20%. Parent assets are assessed at roughly 5.64%.

So the same $10,000 reduces your kid's financial aid eligibility by up to $2,000 if it sits in their name, versus about $564 in yours.

Custodial accounts carry a second feature parents often miss. UGMA and UTMA assets are an irrevocable gift. When your child hits the age of majority in your state, typically 18 or 21, the money is legally theirs to do whatever they want with. Not a loan. Not conditional on college.

None of this means do not open the account. It means open it knowing what it does. For a few hundred dollars of learning money, none of this matters much. For a college fund, the account type is a real decision worth ten minutes with a tax professional.

Start smaller than feels satisfying, because the goal is reps rather than returns.

A workable structure:

1. Fund it with money your kid earned. Not a gift. Earned money creates a relationship to loss that gifted money never does.
2. Cap the first year at an amount you would be fine losing entirely. For many families that is a couple hundred dollars.
3. Require a written reason before any purchase. Three sentences on what the company does, why they think it grows, and what would make them sell.
4. Set a review date, monthly or quarterly, and keep it even when the account is down. Especially when it is down.
5. Do not rescue a bad position. The tuition on a $60 loss at 15 is the cheapest financial education available anywhere.

That third item does most of the work. Requiring a reason converts a tap on a screen into a decision, and a decision can be discussed. A tap cannot.

Not the one most parents pick.

The survey is direct about this. Teens want a guide, not a boss, and they want to call their own shots. Parents describe themselves as hands-on and want to stay that way.

And then there is the finding that reframes the whole thing: 53% of teens see investing as a way to bond with their parents. Only 23% of parents listed bonding as a top goal.

Your kid wants to do this with you. You think you are teaching a skill. Those are different activities and they produce different conversations.

The practical move is to trade information instead of instruction. Show them something you own and why. Show them one you got wrong. Ask what they are looking at and take the answer seriously enough to actually research it together, even when it is a meme stock.

You will lose the argument about the meme stock more convincingly with a 10-K than with a lecture.

Five ideas, in this order. Skip the rest until these land.

• A share is partial ownership of a real business that sells something to someone
• Price and value are different, and the gap between them is the whole game
• Diversification means you can be wrong about one company without being wrong about your money
• Compounding needs time more than it needs skill, which is the one advantage a 14-year-old has over you
• Any money needed within five years should not be in the market at all

That last one prevents the most common teenage disaster, which is putting car money into stocks eight months before they need a car.

None of this requires a course. It requires about four conversations, spread out, ideally while doing something else.

• Schwab's 2026 survey found nearly 6 in 10 teens became aware of investing before age 13, and 1 in 4 are already investing their own money.
• Only 23% of teens feel ready to invest, so the gap is confidence and knowledge rather than access.
• Teens cite parents (83%) and YouTube as their top sources. Parents cite financial advisors.
• Teen-owned accounts are assessed at up to 20% on the FAFSA versus roughly 5.64% for parent assets, and UGMA/UTMA gifts become the child's outright at the age of majority.
• Fund the first account with earned money, cap it at an amount you can lose, and require three written sentences before any purchase.
• 53% of teens see investing as a way to bond with a parent. Only 23% of parents see it that way, which is a missed opening.
• Teach five ideas before the first trade: ownership, price versus value, diversification, compounding, and the five-year rule.

What age can a child start investing?

Custodial UGMA/UTMA accounts can be opened at any age with a parent as custodian. Teen-owned accounts at Schwab and Fidelity generally start at 13 and run through 17, with a parent or guardian attached to the account.

Does a custodial account hurt college financial aid?

It can. Assets in a student's name are assessed at up to 20% on the FAFSA, compared to roughly 5.64% for parent-owned assets. For small learning accounts the effect is minor. For meaningful college savings, compare account types before you fund one.

How much should a teenager start with?

An amount you would be untroubled to lose completely. Many families land between $100 and $500. The purpose of the first year is building a habit of thinking before buying, and that works at any dollar amount.

Should teens buy individual stocks or index funds?

Both, for different reasons. An index fund teaches patience and diversification. One or two individual positions the teen researched themselves teach attention. Keep the individual side small.

What if my teen only wants to buy meme stocks or crypto?

Research it with them rather than banning it. Ask what the company earns and who pays it. A small position that loses money at 15 is a far cheaper lesson than the same instinct arriving unexamined at 25.

Who is legally responsible for taxes on a teen's account?

The child is generally the taxpayer on custodial account earnings, though the kiddie tax rules can pull some unearned income up to the parent's rate above certain thresholds. A tax professional is worth one conversation if the account grows past a few thousand dollars.

1. Charles Schwab: Teens vs. Parents, different generations' thoughts on investing
2. Charles Schwab: 2026 Teen Investing Survey
3. Bloomberg: Parents push teens to start investing earlier than they did
4. The College Investor: Best investment accounts for teens in 2026
5. NerdWallet: Best custodial accounts
6. Federal Student Aid: How aid is calculated