Terms of Use 

There are several methods that parents can use to help their children develop sound money management skills. Below we have listed some for your consideration:

  • Help your children understand about how to budget their money. Be sure and allocate a percentage for spending, savings and charity.

  • Include your children when creating and managing your family budget. Kids learn best by example.

  • Set a regular time and date when allowance will be paid. This is their "income" so it is not fair to make them wait. Give your children as much discretion as possible on how they can spend their money. Defining a budget with them will help ensure that they make good choices. Do not tie the allowance to basic chores you expect your child to do as a family member. Chores teach family responsibility.

  • Establish rules for what to do about lost allowance money. Only money for necessities should be replaced.

  • Have your children keep a journal of expenses if they continually run out of money.

  • Allow children to negotiate a raise in their allowance.

  • Encourage your children to find interesting ways to make additional money outside of the home, such as lemonade stands, mowing lawns, pulling weeds, walking dogs, raking lawns, washing windows, babysitting, starting a pooper-scooper business, etc. Strongly consider charging your children for any raw material used and teach them about revenue, expenses and profit.

  • Expose children to savings and checking accounts, credit cards and other types of loans, CDs/share certificates, mutual funds and other types of investments. Help your children understand how these various financial tools work and how they are used by your family. Start when your children are young with very simple examples and continue to increase the complexity of the topics covered as they get older.

  • Be a model money manager yourself. Children are more likely to be influenced by what you do than by what you say.

  • Share family finances with your child. Encourage open discussions about money and involve your children in family finances.

  • Open a savings account and checking account for your child.

  • If your child must borrow money from you, consider providing them with a loan with interest charges so that they begin to understand credit.

  • Talk about paying for college or other continuing education options with your child. When your child reaches high school, make it a point to get them involved in the this planning process.

  • Expose your children to the different jobs that are available, what education is required to hold them and what the jobs pay on average.

  • Expose your child to the option of having their own business rather than working for someone else.

  • Teach your children about how wealth can be accumulated through investments. Explain how interest is compounded and how quickly savings can accumulate over time, especially if they start early. Show them examples of how much they could save in 10, 20, 30 years if they save X dollars per month. All of us do a better job of achieving a goal if we clearly see what we will get when we achieve the goal.

  • Teach your children about the importance to help others that are less fortunate than themselves through contributions of time and money.

  • Make sure that they understand that money will not buy them happiness but is an important aspect of our lives.