How much did your parents teach you about managing your money when you were young? Did they give you an allowance and leave it at that or did they actually have discussions with you about money management?
If they’re not already doing it, your kids are going to have to make financial decisions every day of their lives. Some of those decisions will be fairly inconsequential, but some of them will be life changing. By teaching them about money early on you put them in a position to choose wisely.
Never too early to start
According Motherly, “For many children, their attitudes towards money later in life are mostly formed by the time they’re 7 years old.”
As soon as kids understand what money is, you can start giving them age appropriate financial lessons.
Better than a piggy bank
Lots of parents give their kids a piggy bank to encourage them to save. Encouraging them to save is great, but you can’t see money in a piggy bank. Putting it inside one is almost like forgetting about it – especially for a kid. A glass jar is better. That way they can actually watch the money they put in there accumulate.
Show and tell
It’s one thing to tell kids that the paint set they want costs twenty dollars. It’s something else to help them take $20 out of the jar where they have been collecting money and give them the opportunity to exchange cash for goods.
Less money in the jar
Buying one thing means they won’t also be able to buy another until they save up again. Are they sure they want to spend the money? Instead of taking them to the store the minute they make a request, explain the consequences of spending the money they have been saving and suggest they wait a day to make sure this is really what they want to do. It’s never too soon to teach kids about outcomes and also about delayed gratification.
In an upcoming blog we will talk about teaching teens about money. In the meantime check out these ten money lessons for kids under ten from Today’s Parent
