It will come as no surprise to parents that my 5-year-old, who was so hot to trot for a Geotrax “Sir John,” spent his money on the first thing that caught his eye at Target — a Bakugan thingy whose world neither he nor I yet grasp, but that made his kiddy senses tingle.
The June issue of Money has a great piece on “unspoiling your kids” that includes a handy age-by-age chart (scroll down a bit) of what lessons kids can handle, from the book, “The Financially Intelligent Parent. It’s the first resource I’ve seen that talks about starting money education with kids as young as 5, which is, at least in our house, clearly when they seem to start taking an interest!
For ages 5-9, the authors recommend:
- assigning simple chores
- starting a weekly allowance
- talking about money values and decisions, and
- introducing the idea of charity.
Which can only mean one dreaded thing: Time to get out the star charts.
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Tags: Kids · money2 Comments
Hi Sara,
My kids have had an allowance since they were 7 or 8. I have to say – they’re very careful when they’re spending their own money. Much more so than when they’re spending mine!
And, it is nice to not have to say that they can’t get something — either they have the money for it, or they don’t. At first, we did have to sort through just what was supposed to be covered by their allowance, and what Mom and Dad would cover. We’ve been at it a few years, so we’ve pretty much got it down…although we still disagree from time to time! But, better to discuss all this and have them realize that there are limits, versus them feeling like spending decisions are out of their control and arbitrary.
Karen
Hi Sara:
My nearly eight-year-old boy and I were in the toy store the other day. He decided he didn’t need a toy that day because he’s saving up. You should have seen some of the looks I got from other parents.
He’s got almost $150 saved from his roughly $5 per week in odd jobs money. I’ve encouraged his savings by paying 5 percent weekly compounding interest. It’s a cartoonish interest rate, but it’s clear to me that the penny has dropped in his thinking about savings.
I’m going to have to introduce some new terms soon so he doesn’t bankrupt me. We won’t be opening a savings account though. I think we’ll buy bank stock instead.
Aaron