How savvy do you think your kids are with finances? Much less than they are with their cell phones! It’s no surprise to see teens still being reliant on their parent’s wallets. It can be seen in the news everywhere; student debt still is increasing and kids are moving out of their parent’s home at an older age. Not only that, employers are struggling to find employees with the knowledge and skills in finance.
With our children acquiring debt (student loans, car payments, credit cards, etc.), how can we, as parents, teach our kids about efficient money spending? In high school, the highest they get in finances will be a basic economic class, but what about saving and spending correctly?
As a parent, our job is to show them the ropes. It is up to us, as parents, to teach our kids to save money. Motivate them to save their money for a goal(no matter how big or small), encourage them to go to college and get a four-year degree, show them how to balance a checkbook, and most importantly, show them the value of money.
Begin teaching money management at a young age. This doesn’t just have to for college bound teens. Teach these skills to your toddlers with saving up to purchase something they really want or even as an incentive to upgrade their technology.
Here are some useful tips we used to teach our kids to learn to save money:
· Help your child open a savings account.
· Reward them for saving money.
· Play games such as monopoly to show them a visual example of making and losing money.
· Be the good example. Show them that you’re saving, but not hoarding money.
· Show them that a little reward can go a long way for hard work.
It is up to us to teach our children ways to save money and to show them the right direction of their better future.