How to set your kid on the course to riches

While some youngsters long to become rock stars or Hollywood heavyweights, others now gravitate towards another stripe of pop-cultural celebrity: the whiz kid who becomes a millionaire before age 21.

That's not hard to fathom now, given the likes of Facebook's Zuckerberg and other tech hotshots.

But for Susan Beacham, founder of Money Savvy Generation, steady strokes and ingrained habits set kids on the course to riches. And Beacham should know: She practices what she preaches with her two teenage daughters, Allison, 19, and Amanda, 17.

"If you know how to behave like a millionaire by the time you're 21, you may not have the cool million in hand, but you'll be on your way," says Beacham, whose Chicago-area company develops products that teach basic personal finance skills to school-age children. "You'll have the seed money and have established the good behaviours."

What follows are five key tips from Beacham, wealth management experts and at least one tyke tycoon who made his first million as a teen.

Follow these and chances are excellent your child will have the tools he or she needs to make a million - along with a good chunk of starter funds to boot.

Text: Reuters

Associated Press