Although the coronavirus pandemic has caused some uncertainty in the financial world and the effects will most likely be felt for years to come, now is a great time to teach your kids about money.
As more and more people have embraced the idea of a cashless economy, discussing financial topics with your kids can be beneficial. According to a 2017 survey conducted by T. Rowe Price, parents who discussed financial topics with their kids were more likely (61% vs. 41%) to have kids who say they are smart about money.
Here are a few ways you can discuss financial topics with kids, from toddlers to teens, according to TheSimpleDollar.com.
Get the news delivered to your inbox: Sign up for our weekly Onslow Families newsletter
Topics: Earning, spending, saving, giving
- Allow your kids to earn an allowance by completing simple chores.
- Kids tend to consider their spending choices more carefully when they’re spending money they’ve earned.
- Have them learn to save for more expensive items they might want to purchase.
- Teach your child to give 10% of their money to help others.
How people spend
Topics: Goods vs. services, needs vs. wants, short-term vs. long-term goals
- Help kids learn that money is sometimes spent in return for another’s efforts or services.
- In addition to handling cash for wants, also let your kids do budget-related household talks (planning a week’s worth of meals).
Topics: Credit, debt, interest, budgeting, identity theft
- To help establish a strong credit score for your children, consider making them an authorized user on your credit card.
- Consider setting spending limits.
- Explain that interest means that money grows in value over time.
- Help them keep track of their expenses by setting short- and long-term financial goals.
- Explain the essentials of how to protect their identity while online.
Topics: Work, banking, investing (bonds vs. stocks)
- Having your child get a job helps reinforces a sense of responsibility.
- Have your child open a separate (but monitored) account for their savings.
- Present bonds as the safer option and associated stocks with higher-risk, higher-reward scenarios.
- More Content Now
Family Movie Night
“Sonic the Hedgehog”
Length: 99 minutes
Synopsis: After discovering a small, blue, fast hedgehog, a small-town police officer must help it defeat an evil genius who wants to do experiments on it.
- Paramount Pictures
“My Life as a Potato” by Arianne Costner
Synopsis: Ben Hardy believes he’s cursed by potatoes. And now he’s moved to Idaho, where the school’s mascot is Steve the Spud! Yeah, this cannot be good.
- Roaring Brook Press
Did You Know
Popcorn can pop up to 3 feet into the air.
- More Content Now