5 Money Lessons Kids Will
Remember
Angie Mohr, Yahoo
One of the most important skills kids can learn is how to handle money. It’s a skill that is rarely taught in schools and one that parents are often reluctant to teach because they’re not sure how to handle money either.
One of the most important skills kids can learn is how to handle money. It’s a skill that is rarely taught in schools and one that parents are often reluctant to teach because they’re not sure how to handle money either.
When my kids were small, they picked up lots of misconceptions about
finances from their friends at school and what they saw on television. They
eventually learned how to handle money through managing their own. If you want
your children to learn money-skills for life, start with these important
exercises:
Let your child spend frivolously—once. Nothing will help your son or daughter to budget and spend thoughtfully
more than wasting money. If your kids work for their money, through allowance
or other jobs, they will already have an appreciation of how difficult money is
to earn. They may want to spend their money on silly things. My son went
through a phase where all he wanted to buy were Pokemon trading cards. I
allowed him to buy a whole bunch of them one time that tapped out his savings.
A week later, when he wanted money for something else, he realized that buying
all of those trading cards was a bad choice. Give your kids the room to make
some of their own money mistakes in a contained environment.
Help your son or daughter start a business. A great way for kids to figure out how money works is to start their
own business. Business owners have to deal with all aspects of money
management: earning, spending and saving. Discuss with your children what type
of business they would like to start. Depending on their ages, they could
babysit, cut grass, pet sit or even set up the proverbial lemonade stand. Walk
through the basics of running and accounting for the business with them. If you
are not familiar with running a business, there are many great books on the
market that can help both you and your child learn.
Put your kids in charge of one weekly grocery
shopping trip. Planning and executing a grocery shopping
expedition on a budget helps your child truly understand what sticking to a
budget means. You can explain to them how you budget and how you shop, but
having to stand in the aisle and decide which brand of rice is more economical
brings home the lessons for kids. It teaches them that paying attention to
every item bought means that you can get more for every dollar spent.
Volunteer with your child at a food bank. Volunteering has its own rewards and involving your child in helping
others is a great lesson on its own. Volunteering at a food bank also teaches a
lesson about money. Kids who live a comfortable lifestyle and have never had to
worry about hunger or poverty often cannot fathom what that would be like.
Volunteering at a food bank brings home the realities of not having money to
buy food. To expand the lesson, give your child $20 and challenge them to get
the most amount of food to bring to the food bank. This exercises both their
creativity and money-management skills.
Allow your kids to save for something big. Kids should have both small and large savings goals. Small things like
movies and video games can be saved for in a month or two. Larger goals like
bikes and guitars take longer to save for and require more planning. The pay
off when the goal is met and the item purchased is gratifying for kids and they
will remember the feeling of seeing the tangible results of hard work. Help
them set their goal and the timeframe in which it will be met. Review it with
them frequently so that they can see the progress they are making.
