Teaching Your Child Fiscal Responsibility
March 19, 2010 – 7:41 pmAccording to recent research, less than 30 percent of workers under the age of 25 contribute to employer-matched retirement funds. The truth is that most young people think more about how to spend their money than how to save it. But when economic times get tough, gadgets and gizmos don’t put bread on the table. You may not be able to give your children a trust fund to keep their heads above water. However, you can demonstrate the importance of fiscal responsibility and give them the tools they need to have a bright, financial future. Here are some easy ways to raise smart spenders and savers.
Play Money Games: It’s never too early to teach your children the basics of money management. If you have a little one, make up some play money and teach your child the fundamentals of finance. Take your child along with you to the grocery store and teach them the value of bargain shopping. Help them differentiate between what you need and what you want.
Give Your Child Allowance: You can show your child the value of money by giving them an allowance. Draw up an agreement with your child stating that they will get paid a certain amount of money if they complete their chores for the week. If your child wants a new doll or truck, have them save up their earnings and purchase it with their own allowance money.
Limit Their Spending: When you buy toys or clothes for your child, it’s important to establish a firm budget. Before you go out, explain the spending limit. This will teach your child how to get the most bang for their buck.
Encourage Them to Get a Job: Some parents are hesitant to let their teenagers work for fear that a job will interfere with their school work. While it’s important that your child makes school their number one priority, teaching your kid how to earn their own money will help them once they get out in the real world. Find a job that fits your child’s interests, but doesn’t require a large time commitment.
These are small steps, but they can pay off in the long run. For more tips on how to raise fiscally responsible kids, check out the April edition of ALL YOU magazine.
Andrea Hart is a freelance writer, a student, a teacher, a wife and a mother to two rambunctious boys. She currently resides in Southeastern PA.
5 Responses to “Teaching Your Child Fiscal Responsibility”
Parents better teach it. Don’t rely on public schools, because they do a horrific job of teaching kids about money and how to handle it.
By AuthenticCandleWarmers on Mar 20, 2010
One trick I use is to always give my kids some choice on what we spend the money on (my kids are 8 and 10yrs). An example of how I will apply this is to create a list of what we might like to do in school holiday, then create a budget. Then decide what to do.
It works a treat!
By Irene on Mar 27, 2010
give liberty to your kids along with firm guidance
By catherine on Apr 2, 2010
All great advice. We have liked the allowance method. If one of the kids need more money, they had to do extra chores or yardwodk. Very motivating.
By BestWicklessCandles on Jun 1, 2010
My son just had his sixth birthday. He has a large group of friends and the party turned more into a large barbecue. We decided the gift thing would be too crazy, so we suggested a gift of $7.00. $2.00 of the gifts went as a donation to the SPCA. With the remaining $5.00 he is allowed to get a couple of bigger gifts of his choice. We went shopping together and he only grabbed one toy that he had his eye on before his birthday. He is saving his money for something else he might like. I will also try and divert some of the money from the grandparents to his savings account for future purchases or travel. Hopefully this way he will see that the money will run out, but he does have some freedom with this money as he did agree to the no gift from friends thing.
By Shaunna on Jun 3, 2010