Teaching Kids About Money? It’s Child’s Play!
Teaching your children about responsibility in every aspect of their life is something you should start to do when they are very little, in addition to this, the biggest responsibility we all have in a material sense, money, is the one thing that we need to set in stone as soon as possible. We all know that the benefits of saving money are infinite, but we all struggle to do it, even as adults. So, what is the best way to teach children of varying ages the most valuable money lessons?
Teaching A Toddler
While the concept of money is foreign to a toddler, you can still teach them the idea of waiting for a sense of gratification. Like when we can’t buy something we like until payday, the importance of waiting is what will set the tone for later in life. So for children whose only preoccupation is playing, you can teach them the importance of waiting their turn when in line for a swing at the park.
Teaching Them “Post-Toddler”
Between the ages of 6 and 10, it’s at this point where you need to communicate the fact that money is not an infinite resource. You can do this by buying them a cheaper brand of their favorite juice and explaining why you’ve bought this cheaper one. Another idea is to give them a small amount of money, say $2, and ask them to make a choice about what item to buy that you need. This gives them the experience of making choices with money.
Teaching A Tweenager
That difficult age between the ages of 10 and 14 is where you can really start to teach them about things like compound interest and specific finances, it’s at this point you can also communicate the importance of putting money away for later in life. You could have them do some calculations on a site like moneychimp.com so they can get a good idea of how much they can save over a particular period of time. It’s at this point where pocket money and the value of earning can be a point to hammer home. If there is an item that they want, and they are trying to save for it, it can be a good point to assess their buying habits at this point. For example, if they buy a snack after school, this money could go towards the item instead.
Teaching Teenagers
It’s at this point where the effects of debt can be discussed. It’s at this point your child may be thinking about colleges so you could have a frank conversation about how debt can impact on their life. It’s also important to teach them about resources that they can use should they ever get into debt, such as on debtrelief.xyz but also the best practices on how to avoid debt altogether. And the last thing would be to give your child a credit card, but on the condition that they can pay off the balance every month.
Teaching your child about debt can start from a very young age, so start to implement a few of these ideas, whatever the age of your child.
