Share the wealth of your knowledge

As your child’s first teacher, you’ve got a lot of wisdom to share. As far as life lessons go, an attitude around money and debt management are some of the most valuable.

November is financial literacy month. Take this opportunity to take an active role in making your children financially literate- right from the very start. And kids are never too young to learn about good money management.

Show and tell

Kids are tactile, and money- in its most basic concept is tactile as well. When kids are little, practice sorting coins into their various denominations.

Take a trip to your local dollar store or penny candy store and point out how much various items cost, matched with the coins in your hands.

Monopoly

There are few more clever games to teach about money, strategy and paying your bills than Monopoly. Lessons stick more when you don’t feel like you’re learning (i.e. playing a game). What does Monopoly teach- other than how to become a real estate tycoon? Make sure you’ve got cash on you.  Be patient and don’t spend all of your money at once. They also learn the strategy of money management. Most expensive purchases don’t always yield the highest rewards- the smart ones do.

Hard work reaps rewards

There is an ongoing debate about allowance and kids. Should you or shouldn’t you? There are those who feel that kids should do chores simply as part of their contribution to the home. However, there are few more hands-on opportunities to teach your kids about several intangible concepts around money- and they are all good to know.

It helps them determine the relationship between hard work and reward, as well as the relationship between time spent and money earned. That is a great context tool as they grow.

To really drive the lesson home, make sure that you split (i.e. budget) their earnings into three categories- save, spend, give. Allocate a certain amount from each “pay period”. Use jars so that you can mark visual progress.