Kids and Money

Teaching your kids about money when they are young means that you can be confident that they will be able to handle themselves financially later in life. It isn’t just about your concern about their adult years either. An understanding of how money works and figuring out and setting budgets will translate into more success in life as they go forward. 

Research from a top University (Cambridge) found money habits that kids develop from as young as 7 will be carried into adulthood. One of the authors of the study Dr. Sue Bingham (of Cambridge University) was trained as a Montessori early years teacher in California and London before entering the academic realm — so she understands kids in the USA as well.

Some experts believe that you should get started even younger to give them a proper grounding in financial understanding. “As soon as children are able to understand what revenue is, you should start teaching them,” says Rafe Klein, Senior Vice President, Investments at David Lerner Associates. “And that may be earlier than you think – studies show it is nearer the ages of 4 and 5 than 7 years old.” 

A good start is to use something like MoneySavvy https://www.moneysavvy.com/ 
They teach money management basics to kids as young as 4 so it fits perfectly in line with the experts' advice. Pre-K and elementary school-aged children are generally left out when it comes to financial literacy as it is usually thought of as being too complicated for them to understand. 

Making it simple for kids to grasp the concept of financial wellness is easier than you might think. MoneySavvy has a piggy bank that is unique. They patented a four-slot piggy bank with separate chambers. Each section is for different things for the money to do. You can put money into the Save section to save it, or if you are going to spend the money it is channeled to the Spend box. There are also sections labeled Donate and one for Investing. Through using the piggy bank they learn sound money management techniques that will hopefully stick with them for life. They have also designed a coloring and activity book for the younger kids and a more advanced book for K-12. This set of tools for older kids helps keep the next generation continue to make smart decisions when it comes to their cash.
There are other apps and software you can find online that will help you in your new mission to educate your young kids about their finances. RoosterMoney is an allowance app that is currently incredibly successful when it comes to helping parents teach their kids about using their allowance wisely as well as keeping tabs on chores and ways of earning. Kids and adults all over the world use the app. They have over 51 currencies being used on RoosterMoney. 

Other apps like Gohenry and Allowance are also great tools. Find the one that works best for you and your kids and get them on the road to financial wellness and security.

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