Another great comparison shopping money lesson for teens, and this one may even inspire them to remember to lock the front door when they leave the house next time. Seriously, when teens have stake in something, it makes them more careful. That’s true for everyone, actually.

There are more homeowners insurance options than you may think, and if you haven’t revisited your policy in a while, now may be a good time. Recession means everyone is competing for business, and insurers really are no exception.

My insurance agent told me, in confidence, that he feels like he has to sell longterm clients all over again. I feel for him, but it means people are shopping and finding deals.

And just in case you are refinancing your home: It’s another great time to take a look at your homeowners insurance.

It happens to be a fun comparison shopping challenge for teens because there are some fun websites out there, with homeowners calculators, which require kids to answer a lot of questions about their own house. They’ll learn about their house, what levels of coverage mean, what household goods are worth in the insurance world, and an overall lesson in cost of owning a home.

Here are some steps to have them follow.

1. Start the kids at this homeowners insurance website. It’s a good calculator with a lot of details.

2. Then tell them what your current homeowner policy is–features and costs. Show them the actual policy. It’s good for teens to look at documents.

3. Have them determine if there are household items that aren’t insured (like artwork), or whether you are amply insured for certain situations, like flooding for example if you live in a place that frequently floods.

4. Have them compare your policy to the one they found using the online calculators. They need to write down a side by side comparison: price at the top, feature set versus feature set underneath. Have them focus on both cost savings and protection.

5. Have your teen call your insurance agent and ask about features and costs not on your current policy, but available on others. Also have them ask the agent to explain why certain coverage is deemed important, especially if you, and your teen, isn’t sure it is. Depending on your insurance agent, it may be best if you were on the phone with them. Determine before your teen gets on the phone whether the goal is to save money or get more features.

Your teen will be thrilled if you either change policies, add features, or save money. And you may likely do one of those three.

To keep updated on new posts, you can also subscribe to our RSS feed, on Facebook and on your Twitter page. Just add us.