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Teaching Your Kids the Language of Money

One of the greatest ways to train your kids for the life that awaits them is by finding practical, even fun, ways to demonstrate the real world to them. As a parent, you have the chance to give them the tools they’ll need to manage money. It just takes time and opportunity. There’s no minimum amount of money your child needs to start. It’s simply about building the habits, developing the discipline, and teaching the language.

 Some Tips to Giving Our Kids the Financial Tools They Need

 Consider these tips as you work with your kids on learning the language of money.

Teach them to save.

Every financially successful person has developed the discipline to save. It’s a fact. Saving allows us to build security for rainy days while also teaching us the discipline of restraint and delayed gratification. Saving is essential. If you can teach them now to save, you’re giving them tools that will set them up for the rest of their lives.

Let them see that stuff costs money.

Sometimes it helps our kids to discover what it looks like to actually spend money. Let them save for something and then spend that money they’ve saved. Let them feel the joy - and the sting - of spending money they’ve worked hard for. Let them see that hard work pays off. But also let them see that money can go quickly.

Let them find ways to make money and then manage it.

Even the youngest kids can find ways to make money, and it’s possible with more than a roadside lemonade stand. Mowing lawns. Babysitting. Painting mailbox posts. Watering flowers. Even the smallest tasks can be an opportunity to earn and manage money.

It’s important when your kids run their own small business that they understand the importance of a fair price for their product or service. Most grandmas and even the occasional stranger will be willing to pay $5 for a cup of watered down lemonade. But the benefits of learning to make money is only as effective as how much your kids learn about the value of hard work and the worth of a dollar. It can still be fun, and grandma can still pay too much. But as a general rule, make sure the work your kids are getting paid to do is priced fairly.

Be an example.

If you can’t stop yourself from making impulse buys, it will be hard to train your kids to control themselves. If you’re not saving regularly, it will be hard to teach your kids to save. The point is that you can teach them a lot more if you’re able to demonstrate the tips you’re giving them. And if you’re not good at them, then work at it alongside your child. Work on saving together. Work on delayed gratification. Work on budgeting so that you can plan your purchases.


Remember this: It’s never too late. Even if your children aren’t so tiny, you can still give them tools. You can still offer them advice and give them direction. As you consider the few suggestions above and add to them with your own version of the language of money, remember that First Independent Bank is here to help. We help families set up savings accounts for their children. We help them plan for education expenses. We help them finance what seems too far off.

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