ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – The National Financial Educators Council released its state-by-state data for its annual National Financial Literacy Test. It indicates Americans between 15 and 18 years old don’t have a good understanding of personal finances. Virginia teens scored an average of 64.37%.

With April being Financial Literacy Month, Gregg Murset, certified financial planner and CEO of BusyKid, said this is the perfect time to explain difficult money topics to your child.

“I know everybody freaks out about this, but I think it’s actually easier than ever to teach your kids about money,” said Murset

Murset encourages parents to use life to teach children about money.

“When you go to the gas station this is a perfect time to teach your kids not only about why gas prices are higher than they used to be but what it costs to insure your car, put new tires on, fix it. All that stuff that they probably have no idea about. Teach them about it in the normal flow of life,” said Murset

Another tool parents can use to teach valuable lessons about money is technology.

Murset said, “[BusyKid] literally created this little ecosystem to teach your kids these exact things, okay. Number one, give them chores to do. Let them earn some money. If you’re not liking chores, use our feature called ‘Auto Allowance’ where you literally pay them on a regular basis, every Friday or every other Friday, just like they would at a real job. Once they get some money in their pocket, use a balanced financial approach. BusyKid does this for you. It literally splits up the money into three different areas: saving and investing, sharing, and then spending. It’s an amazing way to teach your kids how to invest in the stock market, give to charity, or put money on a card and spend just like the rest of us do. Once they start getting practice with this stuff, it’s amazing how fast they get good at it.”

Murset said parents should be more transparent about finances. He suggests parents show their children bills so they can see exactly how much it costs for things they may take for granted. Coupled with chores, the children can get a better understanding of how much work must be done to pay the bills.