Experts agree that children form money attitudes and habits by age seven. That’s one reason why it’s best to begin financial lessons early. Modeling good saving and spending behaviors early in their lives will set them off on the right foot. Here are five effective money habits to teach young kids.
Teach Them To Save
Young children will observe how you spending money. This could be buying groceries, toys for them, or even trips and vacations. That’s why it’s also essential to demonstrate how to save. Finance expert Dave Ramsey recommends giving young kids a glass jar, instead of a solid piggybank. It provides a clear visual of just how many dollar bills and coins are piling up. Get your children started on the right path by showing them excitement around saving.
Show Them Money Comes From Working
Parents have been repeating forever, “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” This is a key lesson to teach children. A good place to demonstrate that cash comes from working is to start an allowance. Start allowing them to earn their own money by contributing to household chores.
Physically Demonstrate How To Buy Things
Your kids may be used to seeing you whip out a card for most purchases. So, take the time to physically show them how to spend the cash they’ve stashed in their room. Let them pull out a handful of bills and hand them over to the checkout person for something they really want. It’s good for them to see how quickly money can disappear, but can be much harder to earn and save up.
Teach Them It’s Ok To Wait For Something They Want
As we live in a world of instant gratification, it can be hard to teach children the importance of patience. This includes the patience it takes to save enough money to buy something they really want. The good news is, in doing so they’ll begin to understand the value of money, and will ultimately demonstrate more respect for the thing they had to wait to buy.
Show Them How To Budget
Teaching young children how to budget their money is an essential life lesson. As they’re no doubt zoned-into a device, download a simple budgeting app and get them started on the road to budgeting money.
Visit our website and use our It’s a Money Thing financial tool, which will further aid you in teaching kids good money habits.
