by KYW's Salil Gutt

The majority of young people today are woefully ignorant about personal financial matters. Many parents are simply not talking to their kids about the specifics of money. This can result in a lot of bad financial decisions down the road.

Here's quick primer on how to teach kids about money.

At age 5 get your kids to put a portion of their allowance in a piggy bank without explaining the rationale for doing so.  Make sure children do all of their spending with cash only.

At age 12, teach your kids the basics of budgeting and investing. Introduce them to your family's budget and discuss the importance of choices and priorities and living within one's means.

At age 16, teach them about the basics of buying car insurance and saving a chunk of their summer job money in a Roth IRA.

Finally at age 18, teach caution. Discuss the insidious effects of using credit cards irresponsibly and the importance of only using these cards as convenience cards and to only charge enough to payoff their balances in full every month.