THE ignorance of teens and their money confounded me as I spoke to many for my recent article.

Yes, I know that they come from a sheltered generation, not really knowing what the current economic situation is, and what being ‘without’ is like.

But in this day and age of readily-available, can there really be teens ignorant of the current financial situation?

Apparently, the answer is yes.

The ease with which a teen digs into his wallet to hand money over to a cashier amazed me.

As a teen, for example, I never got a mobile phone till much later when all my peers had one and my parents finally conceded there might be a need for one. Since then, while studying in university and living in the hall without a fixed phone line, I managed to live within my humble mobile subscription plan.

Yet countless of teens that I spoke to testified to constant struggles to keep within the $50 plans they're on - despite blithely admitting to hogging the fixed line at home too.

When probed further about the extent of their expenditure, however, I realised that many of them did not getmuch face time with their parents - only a meagre few enjoying the luxury eating dinner together with their parents. 

Compensating for parental absence appears to be the key reason why teens seem not to worry about where money comes from nor spending it.

A financial expert I spoke to admitted to resorting to precisely this brand of monetary compensation for the lack of time that he spends with his child.

It's no wonder then that, to the young, to buy or not to buy is no longer the question. Love is, instead, equated with allowances and purchases.

Perhaps for parents, the question needs to be: To spend time or to spend money?

It's an important balance to achieve, not just from the parents' work-life perspective, but also to prevent the next generation from growing up spending beyond their means - as individuals and as an economy.