You see today's teens chatting and sending text messages on cell phones, listening to music on iPods, snatching up the hottest new video games, buying designer clothes and driving new cars, and you wonder, "Where does their money come from?"

The latest survey data indicates that most teens don't know, either.

With the federal government piling up trillions of dollars in debt, state and local governments ignoring billions of dollars worth of future liabilities and the nation's adults increasingly tapping home equity to fund discretionary spending, it should come as no surprise that our youngest generation of consumers is equally ignorant about concepts of prioritizing expenses, budgeting money and building wealth.

A nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve revealed high school seniors, on average, could correctly answer barely half of the questions on a test about personal finance and economics. The test questions covered everything from how insurance and interest rates work to retirement planning and taxes. Among the survey's findings:

--Only 14.2 percent knew that stocks offer the best chance of investment growth over 18 years of saving for a child's education, down from the 17.2 percent who answered correctly in the 2004 survey.

--Almost 59 percent didn't know the differences between Social Security, a 401(k) plan and a pension.

A student's household income had little to do with achievement. Teens whose families made more than $80,000 per year had an average score of 55.6 percent; students who came from homes that earned less than $20,000 averaged 48.5 percent.

From the richest families to the poorest, most parents aren't talking to their children about money.

They probably don't realize that the credit card offers that pour into their mailboxes and e-mail accounts each week are also extended to their kids. More than 30 percent of teens have at least one credit card, yet two-thirds say family members have never taught them how to manage credit responsibly.

As a result, more than 70 percent of teens and young adults pay less than the full balance due on those cards each month, and people younger than 25 are the fastest-growing group of bankruptcy filers.

That teens are increasingly saddled with debt before they even start college is unsettling. Even more troubling, however, is their susceptibility to the euphemisms of big government.

When elected officials say they're cutting spending, young voters won't know their representatives are merely reducing the rate of spending increases. When asked about needed Social Security reforms, many young Americans will debate under the false impression that their withholdings already go into a personal account. They won't realize that in addition to paying down their personal debts, they'll be expected to pay for the retirements of millions of workers who'll rely on Social Security or insolvent government pensions.

Unless their perceptions are changed, teens' sense of entitlement today will result in huge liabilities tomorrow.

Schools can't be expected to bridge this gap. With so many federal and state mandates, they barely have enough instructional time to make students proficient in core subjects.

And for all the efforts of various private enterprises to provide resources to parents and schools regarding financial literacy, the Federal Reserve survey shows they're not working well enough.

If parents want their children to grow up to be responsible consumers and savvy taxpayers, they need to take dinner time conversation well beyond, "How was your day?"