Teaching Kids to Save
How much do your kids know about saving money? Learning about saving starts at home, with parents and other influential adults as teachers – but don’t worry! Lots of resources are out there to help you talk with kids about money, and we’re going to share some of our favorites to get you started.
Savings Topics by Age
Did you know you can start teaching your children about saving money as early as 3 years old? This website from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has savings resources and activities to help parents talk about saving with kids of all ages.
This article from The Wall Street Journal takes a different approach to teaching kids about savings. Down toward the bottom of the article, they include an infographic that shows financial concepts you can teach your kids at different ages.
Educational Products and Games
Learning about money is a lot more fun when games are involved! Here are some games you might want to check out for your kids.
Even after learning about budgeting it might be kind of hard for kids to understand how budgeting applies to their own money. We saw a lot of great products out there, but one in particular really stuck out to us. Several companies have produced banks that are split into different compartments, with each compartment labeled with words such as Save, Spend and Donate. You wouldn’t have to buy one, though; you and your kids could make one together and label it in the way that makes the most sense!
Letting Kids Participate in Financial Decisions
We know you are already really busy, but we found some easy ways you can fit teaching your kids about money into what you already do. For the full-size infographic, click on the image below. For some more ideas about how to involve your children, go to http://www.consumerfinance.gov/money-as-you-grow/.
Setting Goals
As adults, we often set savings goals for big purchases. You can encourage your kids to do the same! This article from CNN Money provides some suggestions for helping kids set and meet goals as well as a few other financial education tips.
Talking about Money in Front of Kids
Are there some things you shouldn’t say to your kids about saving and money management? This Business Insider article has three prime examples of things to never say and why they can negatively affect your kid’s financial attitudes.
