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Want your kids to be generous, responsible, and money savvy? Here are four ways to teach your kids about money (without being boring)!
Money is not the most import thing, but learning how to manage it is a crucial skill.
As parents, we want to prepare our girls to be able to pay the bills, save for later, and give to those in need.
A big part of getting there is having regular conversations and activities where we're talking and putting into practice key lessons.
It's tough sometimes because each kid is different and for many of us it's territory talking about money.
4 Ways and Tools to Teach Your Kids About Money
I wanted to share some fun and practical ways you can engage your kids along with some tools out there that make things easier.
Introduce money from their perspective.
Instead of going into abstract goals like retirement, talk to them about what matters to them now. What interests do they have? Robotics? Music? Art?
Find something they love and start teaching with that. Is there a summer program that they would love to join?
Create a goal around that and work together on saving up for it. A handy tool for that is Goalsetter.
You can create a public goal, automatically save a portion of their allowance or work money and match it. As an added bonus, friends and family can chip in.
Play games.
No, I'm not talking just about monopoly. There are some fantastic ones out there. One our 6-year-old enjoys is Cash Crunch Junior.
They pick up helpful skills like tracking their money, saving, and thinking before spending their cash.
Make money a family discussion.
For many couples, money was rarely discussed openly growing up. Money can be less intimidating when you have regular chats about it.
Yes, we're talking allowances, but that's not all. Include your kids in the family budget and activities.
Give them some responsibility and allow them to make small mistakes now so they can avoid HUGE ones when they leave the house.
The tricky part is keeping tabs on everything. Want an easy way for everyone to track things? FamZoo makes creating a family bank a breeze.
Prepare them for the future.
Whether they go to college or trade school, having some money saved up can be a practical way to help your kids avoid or minimize going into debt.
Collegebacker can make it as easy as a Kickstarter campaign. This is also another way for your family and friends to join in.
Instead of stuff, they can give to their college fund.
Thoughts on Helping Kids with Money
I'd love to get your take on this? How are you working with your kids and teaching them with money?
What tools have you found especially helpful?
Originally published December 2017. Updated November 2021