Introducing Money
to Children
Misty
Weaver-Ostinato
mweaver606@aol.com
Moms Budget
http://www.momsbudget.com
Money, drugs and sex are the hardest things for
parents to talk to children about. Yet they are the most important
things. As parents we have to put aside our embarrassments, or
even lack of knowledge, and begin conversations with our children,
even if it means learning right alongside of them. Following are
seven easy steps to help you start introducing money concepts
to your children.
Start Today
Even if you aren't a great money manager, you
don't pay your bills on time, or
save enough money for emergencies, you need to start teaching
your children
today! Not only will it help them avoid the mistakes you have
made, it will help
you as well! Don't put it off until you have more money or you
have your budget
under control, the day may never come.
Think About Your Habits
Where did you learn your money management skills?
Chances are you weren't taught
at home and had very minimal education in the classroom on how
to manage money.
So where did you learn? Probably from watching your parents,
without them even
knowing. By being aware of this you can help your child more
by being a role
model for them.
Start Talking
Keeping communications open with your child
will help them develop money skills.
Letting them hear you discuss bills, loans, and checking accounts
will give them
a background on all the roles money plays in our lives. Talk
to them about
mistakes as well.
The Uses of Money
Teach your children the four uses of money,
Spending, Saving, Giving and
Investing. This will help children learn other values such as
charity and the
need to prepare for the future. A good rule of thumb for allocating
their money
into categories is 10% for Savings, 10% for Giving, 10% for Investing,
and the
rest for spending.
Keeping Track
Children learn visually, so you may want to
create a system that will allow them
to see where all their money is going. Cans work very well for
children, one can
for each use of money. This is a very easy way to divide the
money, and they can
see exactly how much they have in each category. Introducing
them to a checking
or savings account is good as well, especially as they get older.
Seeing how
their money builds and even earns money for them in a savings
account is
invaluable.
Keep Learning
Your children will make mistakes, and you should
watch for lessons that they can
learn from those mistakes. You will be able to learn with them
as well. This is
a great chance to start learning about the stock market together.
There are
board games and computer games available and plenty of books
to dig deeper into
the world of saving and investing.
Set Goals
Money is used for goals, whether it's a house,
a vacation, or for your child, a
bike or game. Help your child set goals, short term goals and
long term goals so
that they can learn how to save money and practice. A short term
goal could be
saving for a computer game or concert tickets, and a long term
goal on most
children's minds today is college or some other form of higher
education.
Copyright 2001, MomsBudget.com provides financial resources
for women who happen to be mothers! Visit
today at http://www.momsbudget.com and
sign up for our
newsletter by sending an e-mail to budget@momsbudget.com. Misty
Weaver-Ostinato
This article provided by
the Family Content Archives at:
http://www.Family-Content.com
